Keep Believing
by karymcgarret
Summary: Steve was back on the island trying to find the murderer of his father. The only thing missing to make his stay more complete was his five year-old daughter. Now Steve has to find a way to convince his ex to make their visit more permanent while trying to keep both of them safe from whoever was targeting his family. Steve/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Keep Believing...**

**A/N: Hey fellow readers! I am back with a brand new story and characters, well except for Steve McGarrett of course. Once again before we get started I just want to point out I do not own anything from the show except for my own characters that I made up. If I ever use lines/scenes from the show, which I probably will to make the story a bit more related to the actual show, they strictly belong to the show! I hope I don't disappoint and well you know the drill, read on...**

_"All the hard times are heavy, you're still breathing but baby when you're walking in this world alone, just remember that we never get it right all the time even when we're fully grown..."- Kaci Brown_

**Honolulu, Hawaii**

Steve had been back in Hawaii for two months now after his father had been murdered by Victor Hesse. The governor of Hawaii had given him a task force with full immunity to find the man who had murdered his father and to keep criminals like Victor off her island. He loved the people he worked with who had easily become like a family to him. The only person missing right now to complete his family was his five-year old daughter Rosie, who was living in California with her mother, Jade.

Steve and Jade, Rosie's mother, had met nine years ago while he was stationed in Coronado. She'd been twenty-one and he had been twenty-six. When they'd first met they would just hang out whenever Steve was around town and after a year of calling and writing to each other Steve had developed feelings for Jade. He fell in love with her free-spirited self and the way she just enjoyed life. He knew behind that '_I don't are about a thing'_ façade there was a sweet and genuine girl who he worked hard to bring out. They dated for a little over three years and eventually moved in together a year after they began dating. Steve loved Jade with all his heart, probably the only woman he'd ever truly loved, but her constant jealousy over his friendship with Catherine eventually tore them apart. As much as he tried to reassure her that she was the only one for him, the arguments and fights eventually got worse until she kicked him out of their home in San Diego, California three months after Rosie was born. He'd tried on various occasions to make things right with her not only because he loved her but most importantly for their daughter. She refused, saying that unless he cut all ties with Catherine, they would never have a future together. Steve couldn't cut his ties with Catherine because they worked together and Jade knew how much his career meant to him so she was the one that ended up walking away from what they had because she didn't want him to give up his career. The only thing she never did was keep him away from his daughter. Even though he hadn't been around much during the last few years of Rosie's life, Jade kept him updated by sending him pictures or videos. Now that he would be living in Hawaii, he wished he could have Rosie there with him but that was impossible because Jade had her job in California. Jade was a fifth grade teacher at one of the most prestigious schools in San Diego and he knew how much she loved her job.

Steve was sitting in his office when Danny came in without knocking first. "Ever heard about knocking on a door before coming in Danny?"

Danny rolled his eyes and went back to knock on the door. "Happy?" he asked sarcastically.

"Very," Steve replied with equal sarcasm. "What can I do for you Danny?"

"Nothing, just wanted to see what you're doing. You seemed a little zoned out there," Danny asked in curiosity as to what could have his partner and friend zoning out.

"I was just thinking," Steve said in a noncommittal way with a shrug of his shoulders.

"You were thinking?" Danny asked pursing his lips and crossing his arms as he took a seat across from Steve waiting for him to elaborate.

"Yes Danny. You know that thing people do with their heads," Steve said pointing to his own head in case Danny didn't know what he meant.

Danny rolled his eyes. "Funny. Now what were you thinking about? "

"That is none of your business," Steve said in a gentle but firm tone. "Don't you have some paperwork to do?"

"I'm done. So you're not going to tell me?" Danny asked. "You get to probe into my life but I can't into yours?"

"It's private, Danny," Steve said running a hand through his hair.

"My life is private too yet you still manage to find out," Danny countered back.

"That's because you decide to share," Steve shot back.

"_**I**_ decide to share? Are you kidding me right now?" Danny said as he stood up and got ready for one of his famous rants to which Steve just rolled his eyes.

Before Danny could continue Kono poked her head in. "Sorry to interrupt but we just got a case."

Steve nodded and they all made their way to the crime scene.

* * *

**San Diego, California**

Jade Michaels was glad the school year was finally over. She loved her job and she loved her students but sometimes a person needed some time off from everything, that's why she'd decided not to sign up to teach summer school this year. The other reason, and the most important one, was her five-year old daughter. Her daughter, Rosie, really needed her but what Jade thought she needed the most was her father who she had not seen in almost a year now. The only reason Rosie still remembered Steve was because she, Jade, always talked to her about him, showed her pictures and videos he had made for her. The last time Jade had talked to Steve was when he called to tell her about his father's murder, two months ago. Jade had offered to take Rosie to him but he'd refused saying that she still had school to finish and that he would keep her updated but she still hadn't heard from him again. Jade finished packing her last box, since teachers had to pack their personal belongings at the end of each school year, and turned to her daughter.

"Rosie, sweetheart, are you ready to go?" Jade asked her five-year old who was sitting in one of the empty desks coloring. That was one of the things Jade loved about this school, having her daughter with her. The preschool class got out an hour before the rest of the students and her teacher would drop Rosie off in Jade's classroom after all the preschoolers had been dismissed. Rosie would then sit in the back of the classroom and entertain herself by either coloring or taking a nap on the reading couch she had for her students.

"Yes mommy," Rosie's angelic voice answered her as she put away her colors in her backpack. "Can we see daddy now, please?"

"I'm sorry honey, I told you we still had some things to do here before that could happen," Jade said with regret seeing her daughter sad and missing her father.

"But I really want to see him now, you promised," Rosie whined with a pout as she crossed her arms reminding Jade of Steve. Rosie had light brown curly hair, which she'd inherited from Steve. Her blue eyes came from both Steve and Jade since they both had them, although, Jade's eyes were a brighter shade of blue.

"That's enough Rosie. We will finish what we have to do first and then we'll go see him," Jade said sternly but in a gentle way so a five-year old could understand.

Rosie sighed as she went and grabbed her mother's hand so they could go home. Jade knew how difficult it was for Rosie to understand their situation. The majority of her friends had both their parents living together and Rosie had asked Jade on various occasions why her daddy didn't live with them. Jade had tried her best in explaining how her daddy had a job that required him to constantly be traveling but she also told her that in order for her daddy and mommy to be friends and have a peaceful and healthy relationship he had to live somewhere else. Rosie didn't really understand but she wouldn't ask after receiving the same response over and over. What Jade didn't want to tell Rosie was that she had kicked Steve out of their home three months after she was born.

_**Five years ago…**_

Jade had been waiting for Steve for over three hours now and she still hadn't heard back from him. He had told her he would be home three hours ago in time for their dinner they had planned. Steve had promised Jade he would take her out for dinner, the first time they would be able to go out after their daughter had been born three months ago but there was still no sign of Steve and he wasn't returning her calls or messages. Jade was about to call Steve one more time, not because she still wanted to go out to their dinner but because she was beginning to worry and she had already sent their baby sitter home an hour ago, when she heard noise coming from the entrance. Jade walked towards the door and saw Steve coming in.

"Are you okay? I was really worried, you weren't returning any of my calls or messages," a very worried Jade asked as she threw her arms around Steve.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to get worried but something came up and I didn't have time to call you that's why I came straight home after I finished," he soothed her as he held her in his arms.

Pulling away and wiping the few tears she'd let escape, Jade asked Steve, "What came up that you couldn't even call or send a message that you weren't going to make it?"

Steve hesitated knowing Jade wasn't going to like what he was going to say. Truth was, Catherine had needed his help on a personal family issue that had come up at the last minute and he was the only one there to help her.

"What's going on?" she asked softly as she wrapped her hands around his waist and searched his face. "Babe, talk to me."

Steve sighed as he ran a free hand over his face and looking over her head he said in a quiet voice, "Catherine had a family emergency and she needed my help so I went with her to see what I could help with."

Jade thought she'd heard wrong but when she studied Steve's face and noticed how he wasn't looking at her she knew she'd heard right. Steve had been with Catherine this whole time and that was no excuse for him not to have contacted her. She backed away from Steve and let out a small laugh as she shook her head.

"Catherine, right, and obviously whatever emergency she had she had to come to _you_," Jade asked in a bitter tone.

"There was no one else Jade. Please understand, I was the first person she saw and I noticed something was wrong so I asked and I offered to take-"

"What was the emergency?" Jade asked interrupting Steve as she stood there with her arms crossed waiting for his answer.

"Her sister was in a car accident and was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. Fortunately she's stable now in case you wanted to know."

"I'm glad her sister is doing well, but that's no excuse for me not to hear from you for three hours! Three hours Steve! I was worrying myself sick thinking the worse when you wouldn't answer your damn phone and I find out all my worrying was for nothing when you were with your _friend_ Catherine. Tell me, what could you possibly do in that situation? There's nothing you could've done to help her sister. Don't you see it Steve? She's using whatever situation she can use as an excuse to be close to you."

"Jade, please, you have to understand, she was in no condition to drive her self to the hospital. I would have done the same thing for any one else in the same situation. Don't read too much into this. I was helping out a friend, that's all it was. Yeah maybe I should have called but it just escaped my mind, I'm sorry," Steve said as he tried to make her understand.

"It just escaped your mind?!" she demanded incredulous. "How could the fact that you have a girlfriend and a daughter waiting for you at home, escape your mind?"

Jade turned her back to Steve and began walking up the stairs with Steve hot on her heels talking to her.

"I'm sorry okay, it won't happen again. I can't imagine what you could have possibly been going through thinking something terrible happened to me but please don't make this any more than it is," Steve said to Jade's back following her into their bedroom.

Jade stopped in the middle of their room and turned to face him. "You're right, it won't happen again," she said furious at Steve and turned once more to walk into their walk in closet. Then she came back out with a handful of Steve's clothes.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked as he saw her walk by with a handful of his clothes and following her towards the hall.

Jade threw the handful of clothing in her arms over the banister and turned to Steve who was standing behind her with an incredulous face. "What am I doing? This is what I'm doing Steve, I'm getting rid of all your stuff. I want you to get all your belongings and leave. I don't want you another minute in this house," she calmly told him as she made her way back into her room.

"Jade," he called after her. "Jade you can't be serious!" he said astounded at her reaction. He knew she was overreacting and what he'd done didn't call for her to kick him out. "You're overreacting. You can't kick me out over this."

Jade turned to face Steve with tears falling from her eyes, her arms crossed, and told him in a defeated and broken tone, "I'm just tired of all this Steve. I'm tired of the constant fighting and I can't do it anymore. I love you so much but this," she said motioning to them with one hand, "can't go on like this. She won Steve. This is exactly what she wanted and she finally got it."

"What are you talking about? I don't understand what you're saying. Who won?"

"Catherine! Catherine won Steve!" she yelled in frustration throwing her hands in the air and then running them through her hair. "She wants you and this is what she wanted all along, for us to fight and end our relationship."

"That's not true and you know it Jade. Catherine means nothing to me. She's just a friend, that's all. Please don't do this, I love you and you and Rosie are all I want," he said his tone breaking at the end but he didn't let the tears that had gathered in his eyes fall.

"Please Steve, just get your things and leave," she said as she leaned against the wall next to the closet's door.

Steve walked to Jade and placed her head in between his hands as he whispered against her lips, "Please, Jade don't do this. Don't ask me to leave. I love you and I know you love me too. I can see it in your eyes."

Steve kissed Jade like there was no tomorrow afraid that if he let go of her she would vanish. He felt Jade respond to his kiss as she wrapped her arms around his neck and he could also feel the tears falling from her eyes. He couldn't lose her. He loved her so much to let her go but her insecurities were getting the best of her and he felt helpless not knowing how to make her see that she and Rosie were the only ones for him.

Jade knew she had to do this. She couldn't let Steve lure her back into what they had so she was the first to break the kiss and whispered to him, "I love you so much Steve but sometimes love isn't enough when there is no more trust and that's the problem." Looking into his eyes she said, "I don't trust you anymore."

Steve suddenly let her go as she said that she didn't trust him anymore and that hurt. It hurt so much that he couldn't believe she'd actually said that. "I can't believe you just said that. I've never given you any reason not to trust me Jade and you know it. You're just blinded by your insecurities and you're letting them cloud your judgment."

"They're not insecurities Steve. I'm just stating what I've seen. You're friendship with Catherine is obviously more important to you and I'm not going to ask you to end it anymore because I know you two work together. I would never ask you to give up your job because I know how much it means to you. I can't and I won't. You are welcome to come see Rosie whenever you want but I don't want you in this house anymore. So please pack your things and leave." And with that Jade walked out of the room leaving a hurt and confused Steve behind.

_**End of flashback…**_

Jade knew she had been harsh with Steve but she was very young, immature, and insecure of Steve being gone for so long especially after all the stories she would hear from other women whose partners or husbands were in the military. Then she began hearing stories about Catherine and how Steve and she would spend a lot of time together. Jade began imagining things and when she found out she was pregnant, something neither of them planned, the stories came faster and she lost it until she ended up yelling at him and throwing his things out the door. Jade had been twenty-five at the time and now that she was thirty, more grown up and mature she knew how wrong her actions had been. She'd acted like an immature spoiled brat who was always used to getting her own way after being raised in a wealthy home. She didn't know how Steve put up with her during the three years they dated but now that he wasn't there with her she regretted ever letting him go. Jade now understood what they said about not knowing what you have until it's gone. But what hurt the most was that she'd ended up pushing Steve right into the arms of Catherine.

About eight months after she had ended things with Steve, Jade heard from a friend, whom was dating one of Steve's buddies, that he and Catherine had something going on. Her friend didn't know if it was serious or not but they would spend a lot of time hanging out after training or when they were both on land. One time Steve had even taken Catherine on a double-date with his buddy and her friend. Jade was heartbroken after hearing this. She knew she'd been unreasonable with him and she should have trusted him but after what she'd heard, Jade always had the nagging doubt as to whether or not Steve and Catherine ever really had something going on besides a '_friendship'_ while he was still with her. Jade never asked Steve about it because she just wanted her daughter to have a healthy relationship with her father. All they ever talked about was about their daughter and anything related to her.

* * *

Jade and Rosie arrived at their home around four in the afternoon. They lived in a two story single family home in Collins Ranch Place, San Diego, California. Jade couldn't afford to live in a house as big as this one on her teaching salary, even though it was a good salary since she worked for a private school, but being an only child, her grandparents had left this house to her in their will before they passed away seven years ago. Jade's parents still lived and they had offered on various occasions to help her out financially but Jade refused. She wanted to raise her daughter with whatever she or Steve could afford to give her. Jade didn't want Rosie to grow up like she did with everything at the tip of her palm and expecting everyone to do as she wished. She wanted Rosie to appreciate everything she had even if she was attending one of the best schools in the area and living in a beautiful neighborhood. They only reason Jade had still not gotten rid of the house she lived in, which was too big for just the two of them, was for pure sentimental value because it had belonged to her grandparents. Jade was interrupted from her thoughts by Rosie asking her what they were having for dinner.

"What do you feel like eating today princess?" Jade asked her daughter as she bent down to be at her level.

"Can we order pizza mommy, please?" Rosie asked in a begging tone.

"What kind of pizza?" Jade asked.

"Ham and pineapple," Rosie said matter of fact.

There was no doubt she was Steve's daughter. "That's your daddy's favorite pizza," Jade told her daughter a smile on her face.

"That's my favorite pizza too. So can we order pizza mommy?" Rosie asked one more time.

Jade pretended to be thinking about it until she said, "Alright pizza it is then."

"Thank you mommy, I love you, you're the best!" Rosie said happy to be getting pizza as she hugged her mother tightly.

Jade laughed as she returned the hug, "I love you too sweetie, now go on upstairs and change from your school uniform and don't forget to wash your hands."

Later on when Jade and Rosie were sitting down in the dining room enjoying their ham and pineapple pizza, Rosie received some very exciting news. They were going to Hawaii to see her daddy!

"When do we leave mommy?!" asked an overexcited Rosie.

"We leave tomorrow night, that way we'll be in Hawaii around morning on Friday," Jade explained. Today it was Wednesday, so they would be leaving on Thursday night and arriving early Friday morning. "But you have to finish eating all your food and be good. We'll pack a small bag and buy anything else we might need once we're in Hawaii."

"Yeah! Thank you, thank you mommy!" Rosie said bouncing in her chair. "I'm going to see my daddy," she said as she resumed her eating.

Jade was happy for her daughter and she almost felt like crying for seeing how excited and happy Rosie was at the idea of seeing her father, whom she hadn't seen in a year. Hopefully Steve would be as equally happy as Rosie was with the surprise visit.

* * *

**A/N: Don't forget to review! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Back with another chapter! Thank you for the lovely reviews! I need to watch S1 from the beginning over the weekend to refresh my memory since this story is based in season 1 so I'm not so sure if there will be another update before then. I'll have to see how it goes. In the meantime, enjoy this chapter ;)**

**Chapter 2**

_"Nobody said it was easy to get where you're going, you know you'll fall down a hundred times, then you pick up the pieces of your broken dreams, it all gets better in time, just keep believing. ..."- Kaci Brown_

Friday was finally here and Steve hoped it would be a calm day but he knew that was wishful thinking. Criminals didn't stop doing what they wanted to do just because it was Friday. He just wanted a calm and quiet day where he could maybe finally call his daughter and see how she was doing and how her last day of preschool had been. Steve checked his watch and saw that it was eight in the morning, about ten in California. Rosie would probably be sleeping in. Maybe he would call Jade and ask her how Rosie was doing right now that everything was nice and quiet in the office. He was about to pick up the phone when he saw a small figure running towards the bullpen at a lightening speed yelling something Steve couldn't really understand. He went to check what the commotion was all about and who was causing it.

"Daddy, daddy!" he heard and saw a little girl yelling. His teammates all came out of their offices to see what was going on.

"What's going on," Danny asked.

"Rosie, get back here," they all heard a woman calling for a 'Rosie' from behind them.

Turning around, Steve saw Jade walking as fast as she could towards them. "Jade?" he heard himself ask in surprise at seeing her there. That meant that the little ball of energy he'd seen pass by his office was none other than his daughter.

"Daddy?" he heard someone call from behind him in a questioning yet soft tone causing everyone to turn and face the little girl once more. After recognizing her daddy, Rosie ran towards Steve and threw herself at him giving Steve just enough time to catch her. "Daddy! It's me, Rosie! You remember me?"

"Of course I know who you are sweetheart," Steve said still in shock at seeing Rosie and Jade there. "Look at you, you're all grown up."

"I'm only five, daddy," Rosie said putting five fingers up in front of Steve and giggling. "Do you like the surprise mommy and I planned?"

"I'm sorry, we were waiting to be announced when Rosie just ran up the stairs and into here," Jade explained.

Steve turned to face Jade and he took in how beautiful she looked in her long hot pink strapless sundress and her brown hair hanging loose around her shoulders but before he could say something Danny spoke up.

"What's going in here?" he asked looking very confused and asking the question the rest of his teammates had on their mind. "You have a daughter? You're married? Wait a minute; I thought Catherine was your girlfriend."

Steve saw Jade flinch at the mention of Catherine and then he heard Rosie ask who Catherine was. Gosh Danny and his big mouth. "Catherine is a friend honey," he said looking at Jade the whole time but she was looking anywhere but at him. "Danny this is Rosie, my daughter and Jade is Rosie's mother."

"Hi, Jade Michaels, Rosie's mom," Jade introduced herself to the rest of the team as she waved her hand and smiled politely at them.

"Why don't we go into my office," Steve said after having noticed Jade's discomfort and giving Danny a look.

Jade nodded and followed Steve into his office with Rosie still in his arms. "I think I should have called before coming to Hawaii. I thought surprising you would be a great idea for you and Rosie," she said as she stood in front of the door with her arms crossed after closing it.

"Don't worry about it. I actually was very surprised but in a good way," he said and then turned to look at her daughter who was staring at him in awe, taking him in like she couldn't believe she was actually in his arms, "definitely a good way."

Jade watched Steve and Rosie interact and she couldn't help the tears that formed in her eyes but she kept them from falling by taking a deep breath. "Rosie really missed you," she said in a shaky tone. "She hasn't seen you in over a year and she was getting tired of watching the same videos over and over again."

"Thank you Jade. This really means a lot to me and I'm sorry about not calling you sooner. It's just been very hectic around here and I was about to pick up the phone and call you when I saw this munchkin running towards the bullpen," he said as he tickled Rosie on her tummy who was now sitting in his lap after he sat down in his desk chair.

Jade just looked at Steve and took in his appearance. He looked a bit thinner and tired but he didn't let that stop him from enjoying his time with his daughter. She also took in how good he still looked. "I'm really sorry about your dad. He was a great man and I really wished Rosie and I could have made it for the funeral."

"Thank you and I understand. I just didn't want to mess up Rosie's schedule. She's still too young to understand these things," Steve said looking into Jades blue eyes. "When did you guys get in?" Steve asked changing the subject.

"Just this morning," Jade answered as she took a seat on the couch in the corner of Steve's office.

"You look tired. Did she give you a hard time during the flight?" he asked as he looked at her.

"No not at all. She actually slept through the whole flight," she said giving him a tired smile.

"Did you?" Steve asked knowing she probably hadn't slept at all.

"I'm fine," she said waving him off.

Steve didn't look convinced but he let it go, not wanting to upset her in front of Rosie. Their _'relationship'_ was still shaky but they tried their best for Rosie's sake. He turned to Rosie who still seemed to be in some sort of daze. "What's going on in that pretty little head of yours?" Steve asked his daughter as he pointed to her head.

"I really missed you daddy and I'm really happy mommy brought me to see you," Rosie said with a big toothy smile.

"Me too princess," he said placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Mommy said we could go to the beach and the museum and the boats. Can we go daddy, can we?"

"Rosie you're father is working right now. How about we go to the beach and later on your dad can find us in the hotel?" Jade offered as she stood up and got her purse, getting ready to leave.

"But daddy has to come. You promised we would spend time with him," Rosie complained on the verge of tears.

"Rosie your mother is right. I have some work to do around here before I can go but how about I pick you both up at the hotel and take you to dinner?" Steve told Rosie.

"Like a real family?" she asked. It was such an innocent question coming from Rosie but Jade still felt the pang in her heart.

"Rosie," Jade said in a gentle but stern tone.

"But all the kids at school have a mommy and a daddy and they are a real family," Rosie said confused.

"That's enough Rosie. I already explained it to you."

Steve looked from Rosie to Jade confused but he didn't want to add to the tension so he decided to ask Jade about it later. "Alright how about we talk about this later?" Steve asked both of them but he was looking at Jade the whole time.

Jade just looked at him and didn't even nod or say yes or no. She turned to Rosie and told her it was time to go. Rosie reluctantly got off Steve's lap and walked towards Jade as Steve stood up and walked behind her.

"Where are you staying?" Steve asked.

"The Hilton, third floor, room 329," Jade told him.

"Got it. Thank you Jade," he told her as he placed a hand on her arm.

Jade looked where his arm was and then to him and said, "I did it for Rosie." Then Jade walked away with Rosie by her side.

* * *

As soon as Jade and Rosie left, Danny joined Steve at the door of his office where he was just standing and staring at the door through which Rosie and Jade had just walked through. He was barely acknowledging the fact that his daughter and her mother were on the island.

"So, a daughter, eh?" Danny asked interrupting his thoughts.

Steve snapped out of his thoughts and walked back into his office and took a seat. "Yes Danny, I have five-year old daughter."

"And why didn't you ever mention it?" Danny asked standing in Steve's office with his arms crossed.

"It just never came up," Steve said shrugging his shoulders and going back to work but Danny wasn't done.

"It never came up? Really, how about all those times I talked about my daughter? You could have mentioned it then that you had a _daughter_."

"Yeah well I just decided not to share but either way you now know I have a daughter," Steve said as if it were obvious.

Danny just looked at his partner like he'd grown another head. "That's it? You're not going to tell me the story behind your daughter and her mother, which I should add is a gorgeous woman with all due respect."

Steve looked at his partner and said, "There's no story Danny. We met about eight or nine years ago fell in love, had a daughter, and then went our separate ways."

"I know there's more to it and I will find out," Danny said not convinced.

"Whatever Danny, can I get back to work now?" Steve said wanting to get rid of Danny so he could finish up his paperwork faster and go see his daughter and Jade. Jade, the picture of her standing in his office stuck in his head looking even more beautiful than ever, if that was possible. Motherhood did suit her really well.

**_9 Years Ago..._**

Jade and a couple of her closest friends were in a local bar close to University of California, San Diego, where she was majoring in education, celebrating her 21st birthday doing what every new twenty-one year old did, go out for drinks and get stupid drunk. Jade was happy because she had just finished her last final of the year and now she would be able to enjoy her summer with no worries. Sure she tended to be free spirited and sometimes a bit wild but when it came to her education, Jade took it very seriously.

She wanted to be someone in life besides the party girl people knew her by but she didn't want to live in her family's shadow either. The Michaels family was very well known on the west coast of the country and everyone expected her to screw up at some point being the only daughter and heir of a massive fortune but what they didn't know was how wrong they were.

Yeah she partied and enjoyed life without a care in the world but deep inside what she really wanted was to be seen as someone who succeeded on her own without the shadow of her last name following her around. Her education was her ways of letting people know she wasn't going to do what people expected from her, but the expectations of other people somehow managed to get under her skin. It was the only thing she felt she could control so she decided to study to become a teacher and not a business woman like her father wanted. He allowed her to pick whatever field she wanted as long as she did something with her life and stopped wasting it by partying and wasting her money. But tonight Jade planned on forgetting about everything and everyone. She was already on the tipsy side barely beginning to slur her words as she walked to the bar for another drink.

"One beer please," she said to the bartender.

"Let me pay for your drink," a male voice said beside her.

Jade turned to her right and smiled at the man, "Thanks but I'm still sober enough to pay for my own drinks."

"Come on sweetheart, one free drink," the man said getting closer, a bit too close for her taste.

"Whatever, suit your self," Jade said as she grabbed her beer. "It's on him," she said to the bartender pointing to the stranger. Jade was feeling a bit stuffy so she decided to step out for a bit to get some fresh air not knowing the stranger was following her outside.

Steve was enjoying a few rounds of pool and a couple of beers after a long day of training when he saw the pretty blue-eyed brunette he'd noticed earlier walk towards the bar. He saw the man on her right talk to her and after a bit he saw her become a bit uncomfortable at his closeness. Steve was about to go see if everything was alright when the pretty brunette walked away, changing directions halfway and heading for the exit instead. He was about to return his focus on the current game of pool when he saw the stranger walk in the same direction as the brunette. That was not good, he thought, as he took in the fact that the man was drunk. Steve put his beer down and began to walk in the same direction just to make sure the brunette was fine but someone placed a hand on his chest stopping him.

"Hey man we don't want any trouble," one of his buddies said looking at him. "I've seen you checking out the pretty brunette all night and I know where you're headed. Just keep in mind that we can't afford any kind of trouble."

"Don't worry, I won't cause any trouble," Steve reassured his buddy and continued walking.

Jade was leaning against a random truck in the parking sipping on her beer when someone joined her, the drunken man at the bar. He was standing a bit too close for her liking and to top it off, he'd trapped her in between the truck and his body.

"Hey baby, what are you doing out here so alone," he slurred close to her face.

"Just getting some fresh air," Jade said trying to wiggle her way out of there, feeling the man's breath on her face.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Can you please step back?" she asked becoming nervous at the man's closeness and taking in the fact that they were alone in the parking lot.

"Why, I just bought you a drink. The least you could do is show me a little love," he said as he began groping her in very in appropriate places.

"Leave me alone," she demanded as she tried pushing him off her, dropping her beer in the process but she didn't care. She wanted to get as far from this man as possible and the drinks she'd consumed all night clouded her mind and vision and her strength had weaken.

"Or what? All your friends are shitfaced in there. You think they know you're gone?" he said in her ear.

"Please leave me alone," she begged as she tried pushing him off her one more time but it was useless.

"You heard the lady, leave her alone. Get away from her," they both heard someone from behind say.

"Why don't you mind your own business buddy? This lady and I have some unfinished stuff we're dealing with. Isn't that right honey," the man said not taking his eyes away from her.

"Really, then why did I just hear her ask you to leave her alone more than once," Steve said.

"Oh you know how women are, they like us men to get a little rough with them," the drunken man said very smugly.

"Ma'am is this true?" Steve asked.

Jade was scared. She'd never been in a situation like this. Sure she'd had her wild nights of partying and even gone home with guys she didn't know but she always knew how to choose them and this drunken man had just followed her all night.

Steve took in the fact that the brunette was terrified so he told the man one more time, "I'm only going to tell you this one more time, back off from her and go home."

"Or what, what are you going to do about it, eh?" the drunk man said placing his arm around Jade's shoulders and turning to face Steve.

Steve didn't think about it twice as he grabbed the man from his shirt and pulled him off the brunette and pushed him to the floor. "I told you to do what she said, now _go_ home," he growled at the man who was now laying on the floor looking shocked and scrambling to his feet as he ran away.

Steve turned around to look at the brunette who was now nowhere in sight. He looked around but didn't see anyone. He was about to go inside and check if she was in there when he heard a noise coming from around the building to his left. Steve went to check it out and he saw the pretty brunette sitting on the floor with her hands around her knees and her head down crying. Steve went and hunched down in front of her. "Hey, hey everything is alright now. You've got nothing to worry about."

Jade wiped her tears away and looked at Steve. "Thank you" she whispered.

Steve looked around the empty alley and then back at her. "How about I take you back to your friends and your celebration?"

Jade snorted, "Some friends, have you seen any of them come looking for me? They don't care, that man was right. I should just go home."

Steve helped her up and said "Do you live far?"

"About two blocks away. I live a block away from campus," she said.

"Let me walk you home, just to make sure you get home safely," he said at her weary look.

Jade recovered somewhat from what had just happened and recovered some of her attitude and confidence. "Just because you helped me out not so long ago doesn't mean I can trust you. Who knows, you might be just like that man and this whole thing you did was just some act to get me alone," she said in a defensive tone as she waved her hands around.

"Look, I'm just trying to help you out. You're obviously not in the right state of mind with all those drinks you've consumed all night and I can't let you walk home alone like that," Steve said looking into her eyes. "I'm Steve, by the way, and if you want I can show you my identification. I'm in the Navy, if that helps."

Jade looked at him wearily. She was tired and he didn't look like a bad guy even if his gaze was somewhat intimidating. Jade sighed, extended her hand palm up as she said, "Alright, show me your id."

Steve let out a small laugh as he got out his wallet and showed her his id from the Navy. "Happy?" he asked her after she looked at it.

"Fine," Jade said as she began walking away from the alley they were in and towards the street that led to her apartment.

They walked in silence at first until Steve began asking her questions, trying to get to know this brunette that had gotten his attention since he walked into the bar. "So what's your name? I mean I think it's only fair that since you know my name, I should know yours."

Jade gave him a smirk as she said, "Jade."

"Nice to meet you Jade, even if it wasn't under the best of circumstances," he said. "So is it just Jade?"

"Michaels, Jade Michaels," she replied.

Steve nodded in acknowledgement. "So I suppose you attend UC, San Diego? What are you majoring in?"

"I'm majoring in education. I want to be a teacher to little kids. I love children," Jade said smiling at the thought of being surrounded by kids.

"If I'm honest with you, I would've never guessed that was your major. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure you would be a great teacher. I just see you more like a model or Hollywood career," Steve said as he walked alongside Jade with his hands in his pockets.

Jade laughed out loud. "You're kidding right?" she asked stopping in front of him and turning to look at him.

Steve shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh god, you're not," she said at his serious expression. "Ok, first of all I'm only 5'4" so that would cross out runway modeling. Second, Hollywood? Really? Come on that's like a bit too much."

"Hey I'm just saying. You're beautiful, young and runway modeling isn't the only kind of modeling there is," Steve said defending his opinion.

Jade just laughed and continued walking. "So how about you? How old are you, what do you do?"

"I'm 26 and I'm in the Navy. I was actually training all day today and then a few friends and I decided to come here and just hang out a bit," he said giving her a sideways glance.

"Does this Navy thing run in the family or did you decide to join just because you wanted to?"

"My grandfather died in the USS Arizona and my father was retired," Steve said

"I see. So it runs in the family. My family is all business people. I decided to skip that route and do my own thing. I'm only 21 but my parents think I should get ready to take over their business. I don't think that's for me." Jade took in the fact that they had arrived at her apartment building and turned to Steve. "Well this is it. Thank you for everything Steve, really. Honestly I don't want to imagine what would've happened if you hadn't walked outside."

"No problem just be more careful next time," he said stopping in front of her as he took in the building in which Jade lived in, very modern and unaffordable for him.

"Oh I will trust me" she said with a small laugh and then just looked into Steve's eyes. "I guess I should go in now."

"Hey listen. How would you like to get some coffee or something to eat tomorrow with me? I have the day off and if you're not doing anything I would really like to take you out," Steve said asking Jade out hoping he'd get to see her again.

Jade smiled, "Alright, I'd like that. Give me a call." Jade and Steve exchanged phone numbers and then said their goodbyes as she went into her apartment building.

**_*end of flashback*_**

**_A/N:_Don't forget to review! :))  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: You guys are amazing with the reviews. Someone asked me for more Danny/Steve bugging and I promise you will get it soon. I am very flattered by many reviews I get and I just want to tell you I really appreciate them! Once again, I do not own Five-O or it's scenes. ;) So enjoy and review. (In case no one has noticed, the small quotes I put on each chapter are all part of a song called "Keep Believing" by Kaci Brown, whom unfortunately got dropped from her record label. I love the song and it has a very deep meaning for me, but the reason I decided to use it for this story was completely different.)  
**

**Chapter 3**

_"Just keep believing, oh, oh, oh, keep believing…" –Kaci Brown_

Around six that afternoon, Jade woke up after a thirty minute nap she'd taken right after arriving from the beach. She'd thought her daughter was sleeping too but her bouncing on the bed was what had woken her up. Apparently someone was really excited over their dinner plans.

"Mommy, mommy wake up. Daddy will be here soon," her over excited five year old daughter said as she continued her jumping on the bed.

"All right Rosie, settle down. I'm awake," Jade said as she sat up on the bed. "Come on let's get you ready."

* * *

Jade went about getting Rosie ready in a pale pink sundress and strapped sandals and leaving her short wavy brown hair down with just a simple pink hair clip on each side of her head. Then Jade went and dressed in a blue knee-length sundress and white wedges to match her dress. She decided to do her hair in a sideways braid and just when she was finishing there was a knock on the door.

"Is that daddy?" Rosie asked anxiously.

"We'll see Rosie. Are you ready?" Jade asked her daughter as she went to check who was at the door.

"Yes mommy. You look really pretty," Rosie said.

"Thank you Rosie. You look just like a princess sweetheart," Jade said smiling at her daughter. Then she checked through the peek hole and saw that it was in fact Steve on the other side. "Hi Steve."

"Hey," he said smiling as he came into the room. "Are you girls ready?"

"Daddy!" Rosie exclaimed as she came running into Steve's arms. "Doesn't mommy look really pretty?"

Jade blushed. "Rosie," she gently admonished.

Steve took in Jade and had to agree with his daughter but he was sure his thoughts weren't as pure and innocent as those of his daughter. "She's right. You look great Jade," he told her.

"Thank you," she said avoiding his piercing gaze.

"Are you girls ready?" Steve asked.

Rosie nodded and then Jade led the way out of the hotel room.

* * *

The ride to the restaurant was awkward. Neither knew what to talk about since all they ever talked about was Rosie and that was through the phone or e-mails. They hadn't really seen each other face to face in a while.

* * *

Once they arrived, they were quickly led to a booth and Rosie immediately went to sit next to her father which didn't surprise Jade at all. The girl had terribly missed her father and didn't want to waste a single minute when she was with him causing a pang in Jade because she felt like she was the only one to blame for the situation Rosie was in.

"Penny for your thoughts," Steve said interrupting her thoughts as he looked at her from across the table.

"I'm sorry, I was just distracted thinking about how Rosie is really happy to be here," Jade said as she looked at her daughter as Rosie was looking at the menu.

"I'm really happy about that too," Steve said. "I can't thank you enough."

"You don't have to thank me Steve," Jade said with a small smile as she turned her gaze down onto her menu.

The waitress came and took their orders and removed the menu from the table after placing their drinks on the table.

"How long are you staying for?" Steve asked hoping they would stay for longer than just a few days or a week.

"The plan was two weeks but I guess that depends on how busy you are," Jade said looking into Steve's eyes.

"My job is very unpredictable Jade. I could get called at any time but I'll try to spend any free time I have with Rosie and see if maybe I can get a few days off," Steve said.

"I don't want you to change your routine Steve. I understand how busy you are," Jade said.

"I haven't seen Rosie in over a year Jade. My daughter deserves more than just a few days off and I will try to make it up to her," Steve insisted.

"Look Steve you don't owe me any explanations. All I want is for Rosie to spend time with her father," Jade said.

Rosie looked up from the paper she was coloring that the waitress had given to her and turned to her father. "Daddy, why do you have to live so far away?" Rosie innocently asked.

Steve looked into Jade's eyes but Jade turned her gaze away from him looking anywhere but at him. Then he looked down at his daughter and smiled. "I have a special mission here sweetheart. I have a job in which I had to make sure I keep the bad people away and not let them hurt the good ones," Steve tried as best as he could to explain to his daughter.

"Why can't mommy and me live with you?" she asked.

"Rosie, I already explained this to you," Jade said firmly looking at her daughter.

"But mommy, I want to live with daddy too," Rosie said in a pleading whisper.

"Look Rosie, your mommy has her job in California and you have your home and your friends and your school there too. Your grandparents are there too, wouldn't you miss them?" Steve said trying to help Jade out.

"But I miss you more. I can go to school here too," she said looking into her father's eyes with tears threatening to fall reminding Steve so much of Jade.

Steve sighed. "Look, your mommy and I will talk about this and then we'll see what we can come up with okay? For now I want you to eat all your food once it gets here," Steve gentle told her and suddenly the food arrived.

It broke Jade's heart seeing her daughter hurting but there was no way they could move to Hawaii or let Rosie move in with Steve. Jade felt like it wasn't safe, his father's murder being a perfect reason why.

"So how is Rosie doing in school?" Steve asked as they ate interrupting the silence that had fallen in between.

"She's doing great. Her teacher was really happy and proud with how smart she is and how easily she grasps the new things they learned," Jade said beaming with pride for her daughter.

"That's great. I mean she does have you as an example and having a mother that is a teacher is a big plus," Steve said.

"I think she has her intelligence in her genes. Her father did excel in academics," Jade said forgetting for a moment everything that had happened between them and gave Steve a genuine dimpled smile.

* * *

They continued eating, Rosie and Steve talking trying to catch up after a long time of not seeing each other. Jade loved seeing Steve and Rosie interacting, they were so much alike sometimes Jade could swear she had a mini-Steve running around her house. Jade studied Steve for a minute taking him in and noticing the subtle changes in him.

Steve felt Jade's gaze on him and turned to look at her giving her a curious look. "Are you alright?"

Jade blushed after being caught staring at Steve. She really needed to learn to be more subtle. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," she said avoiding his gaze and turning her attention to Rosie instead. "Rosie, are you all done with that?" Jade motioned with her head to Rosie's plate.

"Yes mommy, can we get ice cream now?" Rosie asked looking from Jade to Steve.

"It's already late for ice cream Rosie, you know that," Jade reminded Rosie.

"Maybe we can make an exception tonight? You know as a celebration that you two are here," Steve suggested but immediately regretted it when he saw Jades eyes turn to stone.

"Rosie knows the rules Steve, no ice cream before bedtime. If we start bending them now she will want to do the same thing with everything else and before you know it we'll have an insubordinate child," Jade responded in a frosty tone.

Steve balled his fist on top of the table and turned away for a second to control his temper and then returned his gaze to Jade. He looked her square in the eye and said, "I haven't seen my daughter in over a year, Jade. The least you could do is be a bit flexible."

Jade straightened up in her seat. "Flexible? You want to talk about being flexible? If you haven't seen your daughter in over a year that is your own fault but I am not going to get into this with you in front of my daughter," she said in a cool tone.

"_Our_ daughter but you're right, not in front of Rosie," Steve conceded. Turning to Rosie he said, "I'm sorry honey but your mommy is right. Ice cream before bedtime is a bad idea. I'll make you a deal though."

Rosie looked intently at her father waiting for whatever he was going to offer.

"How about I pick you up tomorrow for lunch and then after we can go get some ice cream. That way we'll give your mommy some alone time so she can relax," Steve said.

Rosie loved the idea of spending some alone time with her daddy so she immediately nodded agreeing to her father's idea. She loved her mommy but she had really missed her daddy and thought it was okay to finally go out with him like other girls did with their daddies.

"Alright then," he said turning to Jade, giving her a questioning look. "Will that be a problem?"

"Absolutely not, you two deserve some quality time together but right now it is getting late and Rosie needs to get some sleep," Jade said grabbing her purse and getting ready to stand up.

* * *

Steve paid the bill and drove Jade and Rosie back to the hotel. Rosie fell asleep on their way back to the hotel so Steve parked his truck and carried her in his arms. Walking into their room, Jade helped Steve settle Rosie in her bed and then they both walked out back to the small living room.

She turned around and found Steve leaning against the island in the small kitchenette. "Thank you for dinner Steve," she managed to say finding it a bit awkward once they were alone.

Steve nodded in acknowledgement. "We need to talk Jade. I think there's a lot I need to know regarding our daughter. I apologize for the way I tried to revoke authority when I suggested the ice cream but you have to understand where I'm coming from. I haven't seen my daughter in a long time so I don't know what rules you have imposed on her and I think that is something we need to work on together."

"Look Steve, I don't mind you spending time with your daughter. I would never take that away from you but if you really want to be a part in how she is raised then you have to try harder to be there," Jade said.

"Try _harder_? Dammit Jade, you know how demanding my job was when I was in the Navy. You think I don't regret all the birthdays and special moments I have missed out on in Rosie's life? I love Rosie. She means everything to me," Steve said furious for how unreasonable Jade was being.

"But your job means more. I get it Steve but there's only one thing I am going to have to ask of you," Jade said meeting Steve's burning gaze. "I don't want Rosie anywhere near Catherine."

"Excuse me?" asked an incredulous Steve.

"I know you've been seeing Catherine for a while now but Rosie doesn't and I want it to stay that way. At least for now until we can both sit down together with her and explain to her that the three of us will never form a family together. I'm well aware that Rosie might be getting these ideas of how now that we're all in Hawaii we can form this happy family but you and I know that will never happen and she has to know it too."

Steve chuckled at the incredulity of the whole situation. He paced the small space in between the kitchenette and living room. "Just to be clear on something, Catherine and I don't live together so having Rosie over will not be a problem. She isn't even currently on the island so you can relax on the possibility of running into her."

"So you're not denying that you two are together," Jade stated as she watched Steve pace.

Steve stopped and turned to look at Jade. "Catherine and I, it's complicated Jade," Steve said trying to explain his relationship with Catherine.

Jade raised her hands to stop Steve. "Hey, I'm not asking for any explanations on the complications or not of your relationship. Just tell me something Steve," she said walking closer to where Steve was standing. "How long had you and Catherine been laughing behind my back?"

"Jade, there was never anything between me and Cat when we were together and deep down somewhere you know I'm telling you the truth. There was always one woman for me and that was you. I loved you and I -"

"It didn't take you long to run straight into her arms did it? I mean if you really loved me you wouldn't have done just that but you did so tell me Steve, how am I supposed to believe you when everything, all your actions, just prove what I always thought," Jade said.

"Maybe going to Catherine was a bad idea and I know I probably hurt you," he said.

"You have no idea," she said in a soft tone turning her head away from him.

Steve turned Jade to look at him and held her head in his hands to keep her from turning away. "I am sorry Jade, I am so sorry for all the pain I caused you. If I could go back and do something differently I would in a heartbeat because you were everything to me. The day I lost you I felt like I had lost something in me and it hurt so much to think that I would not be able to wake up with you right next to me or with Rosie sleeping in the room down the hall. I loved you so much sometimes I think I still," he whispered leaning in closer to Jade feeling her breath graze his lips. "Sometimes I think I still -"

"I think you should go," Jade said clearing her throat. Jade pushed herself away from Steve's hold and turned to get as much space between them as possible. She knew Steve was going to kiss her if she had let him finish what he was about to say and he couldn't let him do that to her, not again.

"Jade," Steve began trying to get her to look at him.

"Rosie will be ready by noon," Jade said going to stand by the windows.

"Jade, come on, talk to me," Steve said walking towards Jade.

Jade turned to look at Steve. "There's nothing left to talk about. I'm sorry for even bringing it up. What happened is in the past and you're free to be with whomever you like now I want you to go, please," Jade said managing to hide her true feelings.

Steve wasn't fooled by the tough exterior Jade was trying to put. He knew her better than she thought and he knew she still felt something for him. Unfortunately their problem boiled down to the same thing, Catherine. Steve resigned himself for now but sooner or later Jade and he would have to talk about them. "Alright," he finally said. "I'll pick her up around noon."

Jade nodded and watched as Steve walked out of her hotel room.

* * *

The next day Steve picked up Rosie as planned and took her to lunch while Jade used that time to do some of her own sightseeing. He took Rosie to Kamakona's shrimp and shaved ice truck and just enjoyed spending some quality time with his five-year old.

"Daddy, can we get in the water?" Rosie asked looking towards the water from where they were sitting on the bench.

Steve turned to look in the direction his daughter was looking and saw how crowded the beach was at the moment. "You know, I have my own beach right on the backyard of my home," he said turning to his daughter and smiling at her.

"Really?" she asked her eyes shining with excitement. "Can we go, can we, please?"

"I've got a plan. A few friends of mine are dying to meet you and we decided to meet up at a football game in the high school I went to. Why don't we go watch the game and then we can go back to my house and get in the water. We'll even call your mom and ask her if she wants to join us," Steve proposed.

Rosie thought about it and she was a bit uncomfortable with the idea of being surrounded with people she didn't know even if her daddy was going to be right next to her. "Can mommy come to the game with us too?" she asked.

"Sure, I don't see why not. Let me give her a call," Steve said taking out his phone.

Steve called Jade and invited her to the game, to which she agreed. She said she would join them as soon as she was out of the spa and would probably be a few minutes late. Steve ended the call and shared with Rosie the news. This seemed to put Rosie at ease and soon they were both on their way to the football game.

* * *

Steve and Rosie arrived about ten minutes before the game started and noticed Chin and Kono were already there except Danny. "Hey guys, I'd like you to meet Rosie. Rosie this Kono and that's Uncle Chin," Steve said.

"Hey sweetie, you're a very beautiful young gal," Kono said playfully twirling a one of Rosie's pigtails.

"Thank you, you're very pretty too," Rosie said smiling at Kono.

"Aww thank you," Kono said back.

"Where's Danny," Steve asked. "I thought he was bringing Grace."

"Yeah, he called me five minutes ago said he was on his way," Chin said right before the game started and then everyone turned their attention towards the field.

Steve watched Kono get into the game and was surprised at how much she really got into it. He turned to Chin and said, "I'm glad she's on our team."

"No brah, she's just getting warmed up," Chin said never turning his attention from the field.

"Sorry we're late," they heard Danny said as he walked towards the team on the bleachers.

Steve smiled seeing Danny arrive with Grace. "Hey Gracie, I'm Steve. It's great to finally meet you. Your daddy talks about you all the time."

Grace turned to look up at Steve and gave him a big smile. "He talks a lot about you too," she said causing the rest to laugh.

Steve laughed at that comment. "Really?"

Danny smiling at the team says, "We, uh, we commiserate, it's a father daughter thing."

"Hi I'm Kono," Kono said as a form of introduction.

"And I'm Uncle Chin," Chin said continuing with the introductions.

"Are you a football player?" Grace asked Chin.

"I used to be. I used to play quarterback for that red team," Chin replied pointing towards the red football team out on the field.

"He's a legend too," Steve said. Then he leaned closer to Gracie and whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, "Until I came along and shattered all his records. BY the way, this is my daughter Rosie. Rosie this is Danny's daughter, Grace."

"Hello," Rosie said shyly holding onto her father's arm.

"Hi Rosie," Grace said waving at Rosie and giving her a friendly smile so the young girl wouldn't be shy or afraid.

"That's a really pretty tennis outfit," Kono said pointing to Grace's outfit.

Danny looked at the team waving his hands around. "Yeah I had to pick her up at a country club," he said and then used his hands to cover Grace's ears to prevent her from hearing what he was about to say next. "Step-Stan thinks that she should start taking tennis lessons."

"What's wrong with tennis, Danny?" Steve asked not seeing the problem.

"I'll tell you what's wrong with tennis. It can be played on a table, which makes it an activity not a sport. You throw the ball. I catch the ball. That is a sport. It's my duty as a father to teach my daughter the difference," Danny explained. He then turned to look at Steve and said, "Maybe you'll learn something."

"Dad I can still hear you," Grace said looking at her dad.

"Well you're not supposed to be listening to me, you're supposed to be paying attention to the game because it's football, it's a sport," Danny said uncovering Grace's ears.

"Danno, I'm hungry," Grace said after a moment of silence.

Danny turned to look at Grace with raised eyebrows. "How can you be hungry when we ate an hour ago?" he asked her.

"We didn't eat nachos an hour ago," she replied smiling.

"What was I thinking about, of course we didn't nachos. Come on let's go," he said standing up and taking Grace's hand. He turned to Rosie and asked her, "You want to come to Rosie?"

Rosie had taken an instant liking to Danny. She thought he was very funny and his daughter seemed very nice. Rosie turned to look at her Daddy and asked, "Can I go daddy?"

"Of course you can go," Steve said helping her stand up. "Bring me nachos."

* * *

Danny walked towards the food vendors with one girl on each side of him. "We got hot dogs, popcorn. They don't have this stuff at country clubs do they?" he asked looking down at Grace.

"Well they have hot dogs but not on a stick," she said.

"My mommy always buys me hot dogs on a stick when we go to the movies," Rosie said to Grace.

While Grace and Rosie talked about hot dogs Danny spotted two suspicious men walk towards the football field and then he noticed the guns on their belts. He immediately knew these men were not here to enjoy the football game and they meant trouble. He turned to the girls and said, "Come here."

Danny leads both girls to a lady that's coming out of restroom with her daughter. "Excuse me, I'm a police officer," he says to the lady showing her his badge. "I need you to do me a favor. This is my daughter Grace and my partner's daughter Rosie. I want you to take them and your daughter back into the restroom and wait until I get back, okay?"

The lady concerned about not knowing what's going on but deciding to trust the fact that Danny is a cop says, "Okay."

Danny turns to Gracie, "Monkey, listen to me, I need you to go with this nice lady, she's going to watch you for a little bit okay? Rosie and you will be just fine."

Grace looked at Danny afraid of going with a strange lady. "Daddy…"

"Hey, I'm just going to go make sure there are no bad guys, that's all," he says. When he sees Grace nod he says, "Alright, I'll be right back. Help this nice lady keep an eye on Rosie."

Danny walked away once he saw them go into the restroom and turned to walk back towards the field calling Steve in the process.

* * *

Steve's phone started ringing and when he checked the caller ID he noticed it was Danny calling him. "Where are my nachos?" he asked.

"Hey I'm right in front of you, I got two guys headed to the field, strapped, I think something's about to go down," Danny said in a rushed voice not taking his eyes off the suspects.

Steve stands up to look and when he spots Danny he turns to Chin and Kono. "We've got trouble. Kono call HPD for back up," he orders as all three move at once towards the field.

Right when Steve is close behind Danny, Danny sees one of the suspects take out gun and shouts, "Gun! Gun!"

"Put it down! Put it down!" Steve yells to the suspects as all hell breaks lose and shots are being fired.

Steve orders Chin to get the man in the black shirt that is running away.

Steve approaches one of the men with his gun pointing at him. "Hands behind your back, right now!" he orders him. He turns to Danny and says, "I've got him. Go, go, go get Grace and Rosie."

* * *

Danny runs to look for Grace and Rosie. "Grace! Rosie!" he yells into the restroom but receives no response causing him to panic. Danny runs back outside and continues yelling for Gracie and Rosie.

"Daddy! Daddy!" he hears Grace shout and spots her a few second later as she, along with Rosie, come running towards him. Danny hugs Grace and Rosie feeling very relieved that nothing happened to either one of them. "Come here baby. Are you okay?" He looks at both girls and lets out a breath full of relief when they nod at him even though Rosie has tears in her eyes. Danny instantly tries to soothe her. "Hey sweetie, everything is okay, alright? No more bad guys."

Rosie nodded but she still wanted her daddy and Danny understood as he led them towards a safer are where there was cops.

* * *

Back in the crime scene, Kono lifts the cover on one of the dead victims and tells an HPD to ask around and see if someone recognized him since there was no ID on him. She spots Steve on the other side and calls him. "Hey boss, over here," she said loud enough for Steve to hear her. When Steve is standing right next to her, she shows him the body of the shooter. "This is one of the shooters. Recognize the art?"

Steve studies the tattoos on the man's arm and immediately recognizes them. "That's a fourteen-k tattoo, this guy's a triad."

Kono nods and points to the other dead body. "The other guy is Samoan. These guys are from two different gangs."

Steve looks at the other dead guy.

"So what are we looking at here, a gang war?" she asks him.

"The Triads and Samoans have coexisted on this island for as long as I can remember. They never brought their wars into the public, especially in front of their families," Steve explained not understanding why they would do so now.

* * *

Jade arrived about twenty minutes late to a scene of pure chaos. Instead of staying back she walked looking around towards the mass of people that were running in her direction wondering what was going. Then she spotted the cops everywhere directing people out of the field. Jade didn't waste any time panicking and her first thought was her daughter, Rosie. She pushed through the multitude of people towards the field and that's when she saw Steve and people injured. Jade checked the area surrounding Steve and then the bleachers looking for her daughter. That's when she began to panic. There was no sign of Rosie anywhere.

"Steve!" she yelled to get his attention as she rushed to where he was talking to Kono.

At the sound of someone calling his name, Steve turned around and found Jade running towards him. His heart immediately dropped at the sight of her completely forgetting she was supposed to join them. "Jade, listen, I can explain," he began but was interrupted by Jade.

"Rosie, where's Rosie!" she demanded as she clutched his arms. "Where's Rosie!"

"Rosie's fine. She's with Danny's daughter. An officer is keeping an eye on them while we clear the area," Steve explained in an attempt to calm Jade.

"Thank God, what happened?" she asked looking around and seeing the dead bodies covered.

Before Steve could begin to explain the situation, Danny's loud voice arguing with someone on the phone interrupted them.

* * *

"That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my life, violence follows me! I mean how do you even come up with something like that? No what happened here has nothing to do with my job. It's just the opposite okay. She is safe because I am a cop. You know what I can't even do this right now," he argued into the phone.

Steve and Kono exchanged a look while they heard Danny argue with whom appeared to be his ex-wife on the phone. Jade watched along with Kono and Steve the whole situation until Danny hung up and approached them.

"I can't wait to meet your ex," Steve stated dryly. "If you want, Jade can take Gracie home, of course, if you don't mind Jade." He looked at Jade hoping she would agree.

Jade was a bit surprised by this request but she quickly nodded. "Umm, sure, I don't mind. The only problem is I came in a cab. So if you don't mind me taking her in a cab I don't see the problem."

"You can take my truck," Steve said handing Jade his keys. "I'll catch a ride with Danny."

"That would be great. Maybe Rachel will lay off my back a little if she sees Grace arrive with your girlfriend," a preoccupied Danny said.

"Ex," Steve and Jade said at the same time causing a minute of awkward silence.

"Right, sorry about that," Danny said distractedly. Pointing in the direction of the officer keeping an eye on the girls, he said, "I'm going to talk to Grace and explain the situation."

"Alright, I guess I'll see you later," Jade said starting to walk right behind Danny.

"Jade, hold up," he said walking after her and placing a hand on her arm to stop her. "Listen I'm sorry about this whole mess. I promise I'll explain everything as soon as I'm done here."

"I'm just glad Rosie is fine, Steve," Jade said. "I'm seriously starting to reconsider this whole trip. I'm beginning to think it was a very bad idea."

"Jade come one, this wasn't my fault," Steve said.

"Maybe not but I've been thinking all afternoon on something very important. As long as there is someone trying to hurt everyone in your family I think it would be best if you stayed away from Rosie," Jade said in a serious tone looking deeply into Steve's eyes. "I don't want anything to happen to my daughter because of something I am not even aware of."

"Jade, that's not fair. What happened today had nothing to do with my parent's murders. You can't keep me from seeing _my_ daughter," Steve said becoming angry with Jade.

"Goodbye Steve," Jade said and turned to walk away from Steve.

Steve debated going after Jade but he knew he was needed at the moment and he hated the spot Jade was putting him in. He balled his fists in frustration at the whole situation with Jade. Steve was about to catch up to Jade but he was stopped by an officer calling for him. His conversation with Jade would have to wait for now but he hoped it wouldn't be too late when the case was solved.

**A/N:Review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:**

**francis2: I was aiming for some similiarited ;) glad some caught on.**

**MadisonBellows: I know what you mean. I am trying to add more team and cases here and there but I need to continue watching Season 1 lol maybe next chapter I'll add another case. Oh and that Danny/OC fic? You should give it a try! I wrote a one-shot and hopefully I'll come back to it once I am done with these stories.**

**Rheadoe: Am i ever glad for pointing that out! Exactly why I debated on whether or not I could manage two stories at the same time lol I fixed it and hope I got them all. Thank you!**

**msgemgem: I know a lot of readers are not Cath fans but I just like to throw here in here and there even if I personally have nothing against her character. I like the flashbacks too, we might see more in the future, so watch out for those. Thank you for reading and reviewing! I love all reviews, whether good or bad as long as they're always respectful of course ;)**

**I am not sure if I answered all of you but thank you for reading/reviewing/ or adding to your alerts. Keep them coming!**

**Chapter 4**

_"When you pick up the pieces of your broken dreams, it all gets better in time. Just keep believing…" ~Kaci Brown_

Steve was in his office finishing his paperwork, not wanting to leave it behind since he was trying to clear as much time to be with his daughter, when Danny walked into his office.

"What's up Danny?" Steve asked without looking up from his paperwork.

Danny waved a small piece of paper in his hand and looked at Steve. "I got the number you asked for," Danny said.

Steve stopped and looked up at Danny holding a small paper in the air. "Thanks Danny," Steve said as he took the paper and looked at the number written on it.

"Are you sure about this Steve?" Danny asked as he took a seat across from Steve.

"No but if it's the only way that will guarantee I won't lose my daughter then I have no other option," Steve said looking Danny in the eye.

Danny nodded understanding where Steve was coming from. "I went ahead and gave her a call so if you're still sure and want to go ahead with it as soon as possible she'll be expecting you in her office. I know it's Saturday but she said she'll be there all weekend working on some case. She's there until six."

"Yeah I think I'll go right now," Steve said looking at his watch and checking it was five in the afternoon. He put his papers away and shut down everything as he got ready to leave until he remembered he didn't have his truck. "Hey Danny, would you mind giving me a ride? Jade has my truck."

"You mean let you drive _my_ car while I sit on the passenger's side watching you as you drive _my_ car?" Danny stated sarcastically.

Steve rolled his eyes before walking out of his office. "Come on Danny, let's go."

* * *

Steve was dropped off in front of his house two hours later immediately spotting his truck in the drive. His first thought was that Jade had probably dropped it off on her way to the hotel. Steve ran to the door trying to avoid getting soaked in the heavy rain that had suddenly started pouring down on his way home. He sighed as he thought about Jade and hoped her and Rosie had gotten to the hotel without any incident. As he walked into his house he spotted the lights on and instantly took his gun out ready to attack the intruders. He dropped his bag silently by the door and walked slowly to where he heard the noises coming from in the kitchen. As he rounded the corner he came face to face with Jade.

"Oh my god!" she gasped dropping the glass of water she was holding causing it to shatter in the process.

"Jade? What are you doing here?" he asked confused as he put his gun away and then went to pick up the broken glass.

"I'm sorry, I'll get that," as she bent down to help Steve.

"Don't worry about it, I got it," Steve said taking the pieces of glass to the trash and coming back with a cloth to dry the floor. "What are you doing here? How did you even get in?"

Jade followed Steve back into the kitchen. "I came by to drop off your truck, thanks by the way, after taking Grace home. Rosie was telling me about how you had promised her a day at the beach in your backyard and well I thought sure why not? I'll just take her for a bit but before I knew it, it began raining and I remembered your dad would leave a spare key under a loose floorboard under the mat in the porch so I got it and let ourselves in. I'm sorry for intruding like this but I didn't want to risk Rosie getting sick and it was just going to be for a bit until the rain stopped but it seems like it's just growing stronger. Don't worry, we'll get out of your hairs as soon as it lets up," she said.

"Okay, that's fine, don't worry about it," Steve said. "Where's Rosie?"

"Yeah about that," she began. "She fell asleep and I placed her in what I assumed was your room. I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not," Steve said looking at Jade. "This is Rosie's house too."

"Right," Jade said avoiding Steve's gaze by turning around and walking back to the living room but knowing Steve was following right behind. "I've been doing some thinking all afternoon." She paused by the arm chair and turned to look at Steve who was looking at her expectantly with his arms crossed. "I want to apologize for the way I've been towards you. I know how much you love and missed Rosie and I haven't been fair to you or her. I've just been acting like a total bitch and I'm really sorry."

Steve studied Jade and noticed she was nervous. She always played with her hands and used a lot of hand gestures when it happened. "I understand your concern for her safety, I really do, but what happened today was out of my control. I cannot predict when something like a shooting at what I thought would be another foot ball game might happen. I did everything I could to keep her out of harms way."

"I know that now," Jade said softly dropping her gaze to the floor. "I was just terrified of something happening to Rosie and then with your father's murder and the man responsible for it on the run, I'm scared for Rosie's safety. But like I told you, I've been doing some thinking since then and I've made a decision." Jade looked at Steve in the eye.

Steve held his breath as he waited for Jade to tell him she was leaving the island and taking Rosie with her. "A decision, what decision did you make?" he asked.

"I want Rosie to spend more time with her father so I've decided to stay for the remainder of the summer in Hawaii," she stated. "I called my father to see if we could borrow his apartment so we'll be staying in his vacation apartment which is really close to your house."

Steve's heart dropped.

"I also know that you have every right to make decisions regarding Rosie so I think we should definitely work together. I'll fill you in on the rules she already knows, what she likes, what she doesn't like, and stuff like that," Jade said shrugging a shoulder. "When the time comes for Rosie and me to go back to California we'll come up with something so you two can continue keeping in touch. I just want you and Rosie to have a father/daughter relationship, Steve."

Steve's heart continued to drop but he managed to hide it well. Just two hours ago he had met with Danny's lawyer to file for joint custody of Rosie. He had acted out of fear of losing completely his daughter but now he regretted doing so. Jade had just given him what he wanted, the opportunity to see his daughter when he wanted to. Steve cleared his throat. "Do you really mean it, Jade? You won't change your mind if something like what happened today happens again?" he asked wanting to make sure he understood.

"I really mean it, Steve. I know you would never intentionally put Rosie in danger and if anything like today happens again I know you will do whatever you can to keep her safe and unharmed. Let's just hope nothing like that happens," Jade said giving him a small smile.

Steve smiled widely at Jade feeling ecstatic at the news he had received. "Thank you, thank you, Jade," Steve said as he rushed to her and engulfed her in his arms squeezing her tightly. He pulled away slightly cupping her head in his hands. "This really means a lot." Then he leaned in and kissed her softly at first feeling her surprise in the sharp intake of breath and deepening the kiss when he felt her arms entwined around his neck allowing his tongue to explore her mouth.

Jade was allowing herself to fall into the moment but the reminder of a certain someone brought her to a halt. "Steve, please don't do that again," as she tried to step away from his embrace.

"Why not?" he asked knowing how much she had enjoyed it too.

"Did you forget about someone, _Catherine_? Besides if you keep doing that, one of these days Rosie will see us and she will get the wrong idea. She will start thinking we're together again and think we're a family again," Jade said turning away from Steve and folding her arms across her chest.

"Can you please forget about Catherine?" he said in a hard voice. "Catherine and I are not together. We never were. What happened between her and me was a mistake and one I never made again. I love you Jade. I never stopped loving you and I should have fought harder to win you back."

"You love me? If you really loved me you would have never run to her arms," Jade said harshly as she pointed a finger in Steve's direction.

"I was furious okay? I was furious at you for hurting me, for not trusting me and not believing in me. I wanted you to hurt as much as I was hurting so I ran to Catherine knowing how much that would hurt you. Yes I admit I used to her to get back at you and I regret it so much but I regret hurting you the most," Steve confessed. "That's why after it happened, I let you belief there was something between us."

"You wanted to _hurt me_? You used her to _hurt me_?" she asked incredulously with unshed tears in her eyes. She used her fists to try to push him but he was stronger than her and he didn't even move an inch. "How could you do something like that?" She continued to try to push him but when that didn't help she started pounding on his chest, getting her anger out and letting the tears fall down freely.

"I was hurting! I know nothing justifies running to Cat and I'm sorry," he said holding onto her fists. "I wanted to get you back but I knew you had found out about Catherine and I and then I got called on another mission."

"What about all those other times when you were back, huh, what about then?" Jade countered.

"By then I thought it was too late and that was when you were going out with that professor at your school," Steve said not letting her go.

"I was trying to forget about you but failed miserably and knew I was just fooling myself because either way you were still Rosie's father and you were going to be around forever," Jade choked out.

"Do you still love me, Jade?" Steve asked knowing he was putting his heart on the line once again. "Do you still love me enough to try to forget what happened and try again?"

"I don't think I can ever forget what you did," Jade confessed looking at Steve's chest instead of his eyes.

Steve sighed looking away for a brief moment but returning his gaze immediately to Jade. He placed a finger under her chin and gently lifted her head to meet his eyes. "I love you Jade and I know a million apologies will not erase what happened but I want to be with you. I want to fight for us, for our family. I know you cannot forget what happened but all I'm asking you is for a chance to move on from that and try to build something new. Do you think you love me enough to be able to do that?"

* * *

Jade knew Steve was putting his heart on the line for her and she knew he was one to never really show his emotions. She had been lucky enough to get to know this side of Steve, his soft side, and knew this was what she had dreamed about since the day she kicked him out. Jade brought her hands up to Steve's face and gently caressed it feeling the stubble tickling the tips of her fingers. "I love you Steve," she whispered. "I never stopped loving you. I would really want to try and fight for us but I'm scared. I'm scared of making the same mistakes again and losing you."

Steve breathed a sigh of relief feeling his heart swell at Jade's words. He had longed to hear those three words come out of her mouth for so long. "That's why we'll both work together on it," he promised as he tried to reassure her.

"I don't -"

Steve stopped her with a kiss not wanting her to over think things too much.

"You don't play fair," Jade said in between kisses.

"I don't want you to change your mind," he said trailing kisses down her neck.

"I haven't even made up my mind yet," Jade said smiling.

Steve stopped and straightened as he looked at Jade. "I thought," he trailed off feeling his heart drop at the possibility of having misunderstood Jade.

Jade closed the distance between them and leaned up on her toes t o place a small kiss on Steve's lips. "I love you Steve," she whispered against his lips. "I want to make this work."

Steve smiled and kissed her fully leading her towards the couch without breaking contact. When Jade hit the couch he gently laid them down continuing to kiss her.

"Steve," Jade said her voice coming out husky. "Steve, Rosie's upstairs. She can wake up and see us."

"You said she was sleeping," he whispered against her neck continuing to trace kisses.

"Yes, but -"

"I don't remember you talking this much before when I was trying to show you how much I love you," Steve said bracing his body weight on his forearms.

"I just don't want to scar Rosie forever," Jade said running her fingers over his cheeks. "Plus, I think maybe we should take things a bit slower."

"_Slower_?" he asked with a raised eyebrow in disbelief. "Jade, we have a daughter. I think we passed the _'slower'_ phase a long time ago."

Jade rolled her eyes. "We haven't been together in over _five_ years, Steve. I just don't want to rush into things."

Steve dropped his head to the crook of her neck knowing Jade was right. "Fine," he said his voice coming out muffled from hiding in her neck. Steve began to pull away but Jade pulled him back when she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I didn't say we couldn't kiss," she said bring his lips to hers and engulfing him in another mind blowing kiss.

"Mmm," Steve moaned. He pulled slightly away and said, "You're killing me here, Jade."

Steve continued to kiss Jade until they heard a small voice coming from the room upstairs causing both Steve and Jade to jump apart.

* * *

"Mommy?" Rosie called again continuing to come down the stairs.

"Right here, honey," Jade said waving a hand in Rosie's direction smirking when Steve stood up and turned away from Rosie knowing what he was trying to hide or better yet, get rid of. Rosie joined Jade on the couch. "What's wrong honey?"

"I'm thirsty," Rosie said looking at her mother.

"Well we can fix that then," Jade said smiling at her daughter. "Steve can you get Rosie some water, please?" Jade gave Steve a knowing smile.

Steve didn't have to be told twice. He rushed to the kitchen happy to get a few minutes to him self.

* * *

Jade turned back to Rosie and smiled down at her. "Are you ready to go home sweetie?"

Rosie shook her head no. "Can we stay with daddy, please mommy?" Rosie pleaded.

"I don't think that's such a good idea sweetie," Jade said. "Your daddy has to work tomorrow and -"

"I don't mind, Jade," Steve interrupted coming back with a glass of water for Rosie. He handed it to Rosie and sat on the coffee table facing them. "Plus, it's still pouring outside and I don't think the rain is going away anytime soon."

"You're not helping the situation, Steve," Jade said under her breath.

Steve smiled at Jade. "We have a situation?" he asked feigning ignorance.

Jade rolled her eyes.

"What's a situation mommy?" Rosie asked looking from Steve to Jade.

"Yeah, what's a situation mommy?" Steve asked in a teasing manner.

"Mommy, are you hot? You're cheeks are pink," Rosie said scrunching her nose having already forgotten her first question.

Jade blushed even more trying to find a way to explain to her daughter without telling her things she shouldn't know at such a young age. "You know what sweetie. Your daddy is right. Let's go put you back to bed and tomorrow I have a surprise for you," Jade said trying to find an escape route instead of explaining such things to her daughter. Jade stood up and took Rosie's hand as they walked back up the stairs.

"Jade?" Steve called.

Jade stopped at the first step and turned to face Steve. "Yeah?"

"Would you mind if I tucked her in?" Steve asked a bit unsure of him self.

Jade's heart melted. She smiled at Steve and nodded. "Of course, you don't even have to ask," she said in a choked voice.

* * *

Once Steve had tucked Rosie in and both, Steve and Jade, were standing up to leave, Rosie called out to them. "Mommy? Daddy?" she said in a soft innocent voice.

"What's wrong honey?" Jade asked sitting again on the edge of the bed while Steve sat on the other side of Rosie.

"Can you and daddy sleep with me tonight? There's a lot of room," Rosie said scooting towards the middle of the bed and patting both sides.

"Honey, I -"

"Of course we can," Steve said smiling down at Rosie interrupting Jade before she could protest. "I'm just going to make sure everything is locked downstairs and I'll be right back to join you two lovely ladies." Steve placed a small kiss on Rosie's forehead before walking back to the living room.

"I'll be right back honey," Jade said kissing Rosie as well and following Steve downstairs.

* * *

"Steve," she whispered loud enough for him to hear her as she came rushing down the stairs and catching up to him at the bottom.

"What's up?" Steve asked turning to look at her.

Jade widen her eyes and splayed her hands. "What's up, really?" she asked in disbelief.

Steve nodded crossing his arms in front of him not understanding what was going on.

"Seriously Steve, sometimes you're very obtuse," she whispered back trying to keep her voice low so Rosie wouldn't hear them. "Makes me wonder how you graduated with the highest honors."

Steve cracked up after hearing Jade but she was quick and covered his mouth with her hand.

"Shh," she hushed. "Rosie can hear us."

Steve raised his hands in surrender. "What's going on Jade?" he asked wrapping an arm around her waist and brought her closer to him after she removed her hand.

"We can't sleep on the same bed, Steve," Jade said trying to stay focused on what she wanted to say but proving a bit difficult having Steve placing small kisses on her neck.

"Why not?" he asked in between kisses on Jade's neck.

"I don't want Rosie to get the wrong idea, that's why," Jade said feeling Steve tense right away before pulling away from her.

"The wrong _idea_?" he asked disbelief covering his words. "Jade, I thought we agreed to try and work on us?"

"Yes we did but I just don't think it's a good idea to tell Rosie at the moment. I don't want to get her hopes up in case this," she said pointing to both of them, "doesn't work out."

Steve shook his head and walked towards to kitchen to prevent him self from saying something stupid.

"Steve, please understand," Jade said following after Steve.

"Oh I understand Jade," Steve said turning abruptly to look at Jade causing her to almost bump into him. "I understand that we've barely just began to give things a chance and you're already thinking the worse will happen."

"What? No, no, of course not. It's not like that, Steve," Jade said urgently. "I just don't want to cause Rosie any pain in case things don't work out."

"Jade, listen to me," he said running a hand through her hair while placing his other free hand on her waist. "I love you and I love Rosie. We're a family and I want the whole world to be aware of that, even Rosie."

"I'm scared," Jade admitted softly.

"You think I'm not?" he returned just as softly. "But we have to get over our fear. Besides, it's not like we can do much with Rosie right in the middle."

Jade chuckled as she playfully slapped Steve on the chest. "Oh gawd, Steve, get your mind out of the gutter."

"Hey, I don't know what you were thinking. I was talking about sleep, Jade, _sleep_."

"We both know you weren't," Jade said smiling up at him.

Steve smiled and kissed her. "Come on, let's go to bed. Rosie is waiting for us," Steve said grabbing her hand and leading her towards the stairs. "Hold on, let me just check I locked up everything."

Jade nodded and hugged herself sighing as she watched Steve check the doors. She couldn't believe coming to Hawaii would mean coming back to Steve. She knew they still a lot of issues to resolve, especially her, but she sincerely hoped and prayed she wouldn't ruin things this time around. Having Steve was the most amazing thing along with her daughter and she wouldn't change it for anything.

"There, all set," Steve said placing an arm around Jade's shoulders and kissing her temple before leading them up the stairs.

* * *

Steve laid in bed fully awake watching his daughter and Jade while they slept trying to engrave this image in his mind. Luck was definitely on his side or maybe it was destiny that was helping him. He knew the real reason why couldn't sleep was because of what he had done earlier out of desperation. Steve had gone to a lawyer to draw up the custody papers and she had promised to file them first thing Monday morning but now that wouldn't be necessary. He hoped Jade never found out about what he had done but if she ever did he prayed she would understand why he had done it.

"Why aren't you sleeping?" Jade whispered half asleep.

"Can't sleep but go on and go back to sleep," he whispered back reaching over Rosie and running a hand up Jade's shoulder in a small caress.

"You need to sleep. Rosie has so much energy and you're going to need yours to keep up with her," Jade said before closing her eyes and giving into sleep once again.

Steve smiled and let out a content sigh before finally trying to get some sleep and hope for the best.

* * *

**A/N: Don't forget to review! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_"When the lights are down and the only sound is the beating of your heart. When the roof is leaking and all you're seeing are the demons in the dark. Oh you're feeling isolated and the picture that was painted isn't what you lived at all. Just remember that we never get it right all the time. Sometimes it's best if we move on…" –Kaci Brown_

The next day Steve and Jade decided to tell Rosie about them forming a family once again. While Steve was in the shower, Jade was downstairs in the kitchen making breakfast for Steve and Rosie, who was currently watching cartoons in the living room.

Jade remembered the first time she had come to Hawaii with Steve to his father. She knew they had a very strained relationship but Steve tried to visit every once in a while even if it was years in between his next visit. At first, Jade was reluctant to come since they weren't even together yet but he had insisted using the _'true friend'_ card as a weapon against her. Jade smiled at the memory remembering the true reason for his insistence.

* * *

_*Flashback*_

"Come on Jade, if you're a true friend you would come with me," Steve insisted as he sat in Jade's living room while she sat on the dining table and tried studying for her last final the following day.

Jade rolled her eyes not bothering to look up from her textbook. "Hello, college student studying here," Jade said. "Besides, you're not going to blackmail me using the _'If you were a true friend'_ card. You won't get anywhere Lieutenant."

Steve went to join her at the table grabbing a chair, turning it around to sit astride it and leaned his arms on the backrest. "Once you agree I promise to leave you alone to your nerd ways," Steve promised.

Jade sighed and put her pen down to look up at Steve. "If I say yes will you leave and finally let me get some studying done?" Jade asked as she took of her reading glasses and pinched the bridge of nose.

Steve nodded eagerly giving Jade an innocent smile that didn't fool Jade at all.

"You suck," Jade said. "Only because this final is really important and I really need to concentrate but you owe me big time."

"So is that a yes?" Steve asked.

Jade rolled her eyes and nodded. "Yes now get out of here," Jade said pointing to the door.

Steve smirked knowingly.

"Don't look so smug or I'll change my mind," Jade threatened as seriously as she could manage but giving into a smile when she saw how happy he really was. If she weren't preoccupied with her final, Jade would have found his insistence suspicious, but she really needed to be left alone to concentrate and didn't give it a second thought.

"I promise you won't regret it," Steve said standing up and placing a small kiss on top of her head before walking out of Jade's apartment with a smile on his handsome face.

* * *

_~Saturday: two days after Jade's last final~_

"I swear Steve, how could your father ever sent you away from this island?" Jade asked looking out the window of the cab as they drove down the streets of Honolulu towards Steve's childhood home. "You lived in paradise."

Steve simply took in Jade's excitement and smiled as he watched her take in the scenery.

Jade turned to look at Steve when he didn't respond. She gave him a questioning look but he just shrugged. "You look really happy," Jade commented. "Are you glad to be visiting your father?"

Steve turned to look out the window briefly before returning his gaze to Jade. "I guess," he said with a shrug.

"You guess? Dude you haven't seen your father in ages. I would be super excited," Jade said smiling at the thought.

"You already know my father and I don't have the best of relationships, Jade," Steve reminded.

"So? It's never too late to try to work on it," Jade said nudging Steve on the shoulder.

Steve stared straight ahead. "He wasn't too happy when I told him I was coming to visit," Steve said trying to conceal the anger in his voice but Jade knew him better than he thought.

Jade's smile faded from her lips giving into a frown. "Is it because you brought me? I told you it was a bad idea, Steve."

"No it's not you, don't worry about that," Steve reassured her grabbing her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. "He just doesn't want me on the island for the same reason he sent us away the first time."

"Then why did we even come if it's not safe?" Jade asked becoming worried.

Steve shook his head no. "If Mary and I were really in danger whoever was or is after our family would have found us wherever we went. Besides, you just finished the school year and I only have a week of leave. What better way to spend it than in Hawaii?" he asked placing a hand under her chin and letting his thumb caress it while he looked intently into Jade's eyes. "I really missed you."

Jade blushed slightly and turned away from Steve causing him to drop his hand onto the seat. "I missed you too," she whispered back not daring to meet his eyes. "It's funny that we've known each other for a year now and I can count on one hand the times we've actually been face to face but I already feel like I've known you my whole life."

"That's because we've kept in touch and I feel the same way. You're something else, Jade," Steve said drawing imaginary circles on the hand that was resting in between them.

"I hope that's a good thing," she said looking at him and giving him a small uncertain smile.

"Definitely a good thing," he said smiled big at her.

"We're here," the cab driver announced.

Steve and Jade got out of the car and while they took the suitcases out Jade used the time to take in her surroundings and the house Steve had grown up in. "This is a really nice house, very secluded."

"Thanks," Steve said as he led them towards the door but before they got there a man, who Jade assumed was Steve's father, appeared at the door. Steve supposed his father had been keeping an eye for their arrival since he appeared at the door right away ushered them in right away. It didn't escape Steve the fact that his father had double checked the area after Steve and Mia came in. "Don't you think you're being a little paranoid?"

"You can never be too careful," Steve's father answered as he locked the door. Turning to face his son, he smiled widely and went to hug his son who he had not seen in a very long time. "Welcome home, son."

"Thanks dad," Steve said a bit awkwardly while he hugged his father back. Pulling back he turned slightly to place a hand on Jade's lower back to bring her forward. "Dad, this is Jade, Jade this is my dad."

"Nice to meet you sir," Jade said smiling at the older man and shaking his outstretched hand. "Steve has told me so much about you."

"I hope only good things," he responded smiling at Jade. "Call me John. When Steve told me he was bringing a friend he didn't mention how beautiful you were."

Jade blushed profusely. "Thank you, sir, I mean John."

John smiled at Jade's reaction. He took pity on her and turned to Steve. "I bet you two are hungry or at least thirsty," he said. "Can I offer either one of you something to drink or perhaps something to eat?"

Steve turned to Jade with a raised eyebrow silently asking her if she wanted anything.

"I'll take some water, please," Jade said kindly.

"I'm good for now, dad, thanks," Steve said walking to the couch and dropping down on it.

Jade looked over her shoulder to make sure John had left the room and then joined Steve on the couch. "Your dad seems nice, very attractive for an older man," Jade said.

Steve raised an eyebrow at her comment. "Don't let him hear you say that or he'll actually believe it," Steve whispered playfully.

Jade shoved him playfully. "It's true. I can see where you got your good looks from."

"So you think I'm good looking?" Steve teased.

Jade rolled her eyes. "Even you know that," she said dryly. "Why do you think we're friends?" Jade said good-naturedly.

Steve feigned mock hurt. "Gees thanks; I thought you liked me because I was a nice guy," Steve said indignantly.

"You, a nice guy, please!" Jade said in a mocking tone.

"You don't think I'm a nice guy?" Steve countered.

Jade shook her head no.

"Really?" Steve said moving closer.

Jade gulped at Steve's close proximity but still shook her head no.

"Oh you're so going to wish you never said that," Steve said as he began tickling her knowing how ticklish she was.

Jade yelped in surprise and couldn't stop laughing. "Steve, come on Steve," she said her voice coming out strangled from her excessive laughter. "Steve, please."

"Please what?" Steve asked not bothering to seize his attack.

"Children," they both heard a male stern voice causing them to quickly jump apart as if being caught red handed. When they turned to look at Steve's father, they both realized by the smile on his face he wasn't really upset.

Jade took the glass of water John gave her and thanked him.

"So what are your plans while you two are on the island?" John asked.

Steve shrugged a shoulder. "I'll be playing tour guide since Jade has never been to Hawaii," Steve said.

"Hey that's not true. I said the last time I was in Hawaii I was two so I didn't remember anything," Jade corrected. She turned to look at John. "My father has a vacation apartment on the island but he uses mostly when he's on business here. We haven't been on vacation to Hawaii since I was two."

"Oh that's right I forgot I was friends with a multi billionaire heiress who can afford to travel to much fancier and nicer places than Hawaii," Steve mocked playfully knowing how much Jade hated to be reminded of the fortune she was bound to inherit one day. That was one of the reasons Steve had fallen hard for Jade. She wasn't materialistic and didn't care about the fortune her family had or that he could barely support himself on his Navy salary.

John raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Really?" he asked. "I'm sorry but Steve hasn't told me much about you. Well in reality, if we're being honest, he doesn't really tell me much about his life."

"Yeah, whose fault is that?" Steve retorted feeling the anger he had tried to bury deep within come to surface. He felt Jade's hand give his thigh a gentle squeeze to calm him down so he took a deep breath and apologized to his father.

John shook his head. "No need to apologize. You are right, it is my fault," John said. He noticed Jade was becoming uncomfortable with the sudden tension in the room so he stood up and excused himself. "I'll let you two get settled in. I've got some things to do somewhere else." He looked at Jade and smiled at her. "I hope you enjoy your stay here and I want you to feel at home."

Jade stood up and smiled at John. "Thank you," she said.

John nodded and with one last look at his son he grabbed his car keys and walked out the door looking crestfallen.

* * *

Jade immediately turned to look at Steve who was sitting down on the couch looking into space. "Really, Steve?" she asked pointedly.

"What?" he asked wearily.

"I understand you're hurt by your father's actions but come on. You didn't have to be rude," she said crossing her arms in front of her.

"How was I being rude?" Steve asked in annoyance as he stood up and took the same stance as Jade.

"You know well how," Jade said before turning around to go explore the house.

Steve grabbed Jade's hand to stop her from leaving. "Come on, don't get mad," Steve said. "We came here to relax not get into a fight."

"We're not fighting, Steve. I just want you to think about taking advantage of the time you have to be with your. One day it might be too late and you might end up regretting it."

_*End of Flashback*_

* * *

Jade sighed at the memory. Steve and she had only been to Hawaii one more time after that, to tell Steve's dad he was going to be a grandfather. John did meet Rosie when she was born because he flew out to California but that had been the last time Steve or Jade had seen John McGarrett alive.

Jade pushed that sad memory out of the way and smiled at the memory of their first night in Hawaii. She was reminiscing their first night in Hawaii when she felt two strong arms wrap around her waist. Jade smiled and leaned back onto Steve's body placing her hands on top of his.

"What's going on inside that pretty little head of yours," Steve asked nuzzling her neck.

"I was just remembering the first time you took me to Hawaii and the surprise you had planned for that first night. You really surprised and amazed me by how well planned the whole thing was," Jade said.

Steve smiled into her neck at the memory. "Yeah, I thought you were going to ruin my plans when you wouldn't agree to come with me."

Jade turned in his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck, to look at him. "Well if I would've known you were going to prepare such a romantic picnic with a bonfire at night on the beach just to ask me to be your girlfriend then I would've agreed right away." That night Steve had planned a surprise dinner picnic on a secluded beach under the stars and next to a bonfire just to ask her to be his girlfriend. Jade, that instant, figured out why he was so insistent on having her accompany him on the trip. It had been such a romantic gesture in Jade's eyes and made her fall even more in love with him.

Steve smiled and placed a small kiss on her lips. "Well that would've ruined the surprise, too."

Jade smiled and gave him a small peck on the lips before turning around to serve breakfast. "Yeah that's true, I guess. Can you go tell Rosie breakfast is ready please?"

"Sure," he said before walking out of the kitchen to call Rosie.

* * *

Over breakfast, Steve and Jade talked to Rosie, in terms a five year-old could understand, about Jade and Steve trying to give things a chance to build a real family together. They were pretty sure Rosie had no idea what they had just told her but she was ecstatic that they were finally going to be a real family like the rest of her friends. She was a bit disappointed when Jade stated that they wouldn't be living together just yet, at least until things were more settled.

* * *

A month later, while Jade took Rosie to the museum, Steve took advantage of the free time he had to take Danny hiking and to a see the petro glyphs in Ko'Olau Mountain Range his own father used to take him to when Steve was a kid.

"This is not a hike Steven. You're dad used to bring you up here when you were a kid?" Danny asked as he tried to keep up with Steve.

Steve smiled and said, "Every year."

Danny looked around the scenery. "Yeah, that would explain a lot."

Steve shook his head smiling. "You could bring Grace up here when she gets older."

Danny laughed at Steve's suggestion. "Grace wants to go get a manicure and pedicure, okay. She's not interested on going to look at old graffiti on rocks, okay? This would be basically child abuse."

Steve stopped and turned to look at Danny. "They're called petro glyphs, Danny, petro glyphs."

Danny clasped his hands together and said, "That is a fancy name for graffiti."

"You know what, I remember the first time I beat my father to this summit. I remember it like it was yesterday." Steve reminisced on the times he came up to these mountains with his father as he took in the beautiful views.

"With all due respect, what's wrong with a good old fashioned baseball game, huh?" Danny asked moving his hands in a batting motion.

"I've never been to a professional baseball game," Steve answered plainly.

Danny disappointed at what he just heard dropped his hands to his sides. "That doesn't surprise me at all. I mean how, forget about it," he said waving a hand. "You know what? To each his own."

"Stop talking for a second," Steve said staring straight ahead of him. "Look at this view. This view has not changed one bit since I was a kid. Everything else has changed. Not this." Steve's happy mood suddenly clouded over when he thought about the envelopes he had been receiving the last couple of weeks. "You know what, I, I found another one of those envelopes on my doorstep yesterday morning. It had an old matchbook. It used to be in my father's old tool box."

Danny looked at Steve. "You think it's from WoFat?"

"I don't know," he said looking into Danny's eyes. "WoFat is trying to play with me"

"I don't understand what kind of game, huh, like he's trying to get you to believe that your father was a dirty cop?" Danny asked.

Steve suddenly felt defensive at Danny's remark. "Let me tell you something. My father was such a good man and he was a great cop. Whatever case he was working on when he got killed I'm going to find out what that was."

"That still doesn't explain why someone is sending that case's evidence back to you," Danny pointed out.

"Maybe someone is trying to lead me to WoFat," Steve said.

"Maybe WoFat is trying to lure you," Danny countered.

That made Steve think and after a moment he resumed his walking signaling the conversation was over. "Come on, let's keep going," he said.

* * *

When they arrived at the site of the petro glyphs, Steve proceeded to explain the symbols found on the rocks to Danny and what they meant.

"Pretty cool huh, better than a Yankees game?" Steve asked Danny with a smiled on his face.

"It's not even close to a Yankees game but it's nice," Danny commented as he continued studying the petro glyphs.

Steve stopped paying attention when he saw a broken branch behind them and walked over to check it out. Standing at the edge of the rock he caught sight of someone lying unconscious at the bottom. Steve proceeds to take off his backpack and called Danny over. "Danny, Danny, there's someone down here," he said his voice laced with urgency.

Danny turned to look at Steve and walked over to where he was crouching down at the edge.

"Hey, yo! Hey!" he called to the unmoving body whistling in the process. When he didn't receive a response, Steve turned to Danny, "I'm going down there. He could still be alive." Steve found a rope in his bag and then strapped himself with it to climb down.

"Is he alright?" Danny asked from the top of the rock.

Steve pressed two fingers on the man's neck to check for a pulse but didn't feel one. "He's dead!" he called back. Steve turned the body around to take a better look at it. "He's got a gunshot wound through and through and there's very little blood."

"Alright, look there's no action up here, no signs of struggle, somebody dumped him," Danny commented as he observed the area where he was standing.

"It's got to be from a plane or helicopter," Steve said.

"Get out of the way, let me take a picture," Danny said as he took out his cell phone to take a picture. "Alright come up. Let's go, go for a little hike and call a crime scene unit."

"I need you to take up the slack as I climb alright?" Steve instructed as he strapped himself once more on the rope. "Alright take the slack, Danny."

"Go easy, take your time," Danny said as calmly as he could while Steve began climbing back up.

As Steve began climbing up the rocks, a lose rock fell off hitting Steve on the forehead and causing him to let go of the rope and Danny to lose control of the rope as well.

Danny ran to the edge dropping to his knees ignoring the scrapes the small rocks and sand were causing on both hands and knees. "Steve! Steve!" Danny shouted down at him full of worry.

Steve was filled with confusion as he tried to fight off unconsciousness. Everything was moving as he opened his eyes and tried to blink away the fuzziness. He felt a burning pain rush up his arm as he moved.

"Hey Steve, don't move, alright, just stay where you are!" Danny ordered anxiously and doing everything he could to remain calm. "You alright?"

"I'm good, I'm good," he said as he managed to push himself up in a sitting position using one arm only. "Danny I think I've broken my arm. Send the rope down, okay?"

Danny hesitated for a second before going to get the rope for Steve. "It's stuck on a branch. Alright look I'm going to go call for help."

"There's no cell service here. There is at the summit. You need to climb up and call medical evacuation alright?" Steve said.

"Alright, don't move, alright?" Danny said.

"Hey Danny, throw my pack down before you go," Steve said before Danny could leave.

Danny threw Steve's bag down at him.

"Alright, alright, I got it," Steve said as he grabbed the bag from where it had landed right next to him.

"Hey listen to me, do not move!" Danny ordered once again.

"Be careful up there. It's really steep," Steve said not wanting anything to happen to Danny as well with him stuck with a broken arm and dead body.

Danny nodded before leaving to find an area with reception to call for help.

* * *

While Danny left to make the call, Steve grabbed a stick and his tape to wrap his broken arm and give it support, wincing in pain as he did it. Once he was done, Steve took out his cell phone and began recording his observations of the dead body. "Alright, uh, gunshot wound, small caliber, through and through, wait," he paused when he noticed something on the wound. He put his cell down and leaned in to get a closer look at the wound. "There are fish scales in the exit wound."

* * *

About half an hour later, Steve looked up at the sky when he heard thunder and then saw Danny was finally back. "Hey did you get reception?"

"Yeah army evacuation is on its way," Danny said.

"I don't think we have time. These clouds, they look bad. If it starts raining this place is going to look like a big mud slide," Steve said looking up at the sky.

"Alright, I'm going to come down and untangle the rope and I'm going to bring it to you alright?"

"Hey, take it easy alright?" Steve suggested.

Danny nodded and went on to climb down the rocks. On his way down he slipped and almost lost his balance but he was able to recover right away.

"Easy, easy! I'm not going to catch your ass if you fall," Steve yelled when he saw Danny almost fell.

"I'd rather you not catch me if I fall okay?" Danny said as he untangled the rope and threw it at Steve.

Steve caught the rope and strapped himself once again. He began climbing up once more while Danny helped pull him up. Right when Steve was halfway up, the army evacuation team arrived. Steve got strapped in and carried up to the army evacuation chopper.

While he was being pulled up to the chopper, Steve looked back down at Danny. "Hey, Danny! Thanks brother!"

Danny drew an imaginary heart and pointed it to Steve before they pulled him all the way up into the chopper and took him to a hospital.

* * *

Steve hated hospitals but what he hated the most was not being able to drive him self where he needed to be. Fortunately, he knew he could count on his friends so he called Kamakona while the rest of the team continued on with the investigation. He heard a honk and turned to see Kamakona parked on the drop off area and walked towards his jeep.

"Yo! Ride is here bro. Where's the wheelchair and the cute nurse?" Kamakona asked.

"Funny. What's with all the ice?" Steve asked when he noticed the jeep was filled with bags of ice.

"Sorry bro, beach sale," he said.

"They had a sale on ice?" Steve asked in surprise.

"Big sale," Kamakona informed him.

"Well I'm sure glad you stopped for ice. Mahalos for picking me up brother," Steve said full of gratitude after Kamakona drove off.

"Anytime brother," Kamakona said. "Where's the lady?"

Steve sighed as he leaned back on the seat. "I don't want her to worry for no reason," Steve said. "It was nothing big."

"You broke your arm, bro, I think that's big for her," Kamakona said.

"I'll tell Jade later when the case is solved," Steve said hoping Jade didn't get mad at him for not calling her.

* * *

That night after dinner with the team, Steve received a text from Jade informing him she would be waiting in his house.

"Jade," Steve called out for Jade loud enough to be heard wherever she was in the kitchen when he arrived. "Jade, where are you?"

"In here," Jade said coming out of the kitchen with a glass of milk in her hand dressed in one of Steve's Navy t-shirts. "I'm glad you're – oh my god, what happened to you?" Jade asked rushing to Steve's side, leaving the glass of milk on a nearby table. "Steve what happened?"

"Now this is a nice surprise," Steve said ignoring Jade's question on purpose and admiring how sexy she looked in one of his shirts. He had definitely missed seeing her in his clothes.

"Don't ignore my question and tell me what happened?" Jade ordered batting away Steve's hand when tried to pull her into his embrace. "I thought you were going hiking with Danny."

Steve sighed walking into the living room and taking a seat on the couch. "We did but we stumbled upon a dead body on a bottom rock. I went down to check it out but when I tried climbing back up a rock fell and I lost my balance. It's just a broken arm, nothing to worry abut, now come over here," Steve said taking a hold of Jade's hand and pulling her onto his lap. He nuzzled her neck while he ran one hand up and down her back and said, "I really missed you. Where's Rosie?"

"Rosie is with Grace," Jade said. Jade wasn't letting Steve off the hook that easily. She was worried and hurt at the same time for not knowing about Steve's accident. "Why didn't anyone call me to let me know?"

"For this same reason, I didn't want you to worry and ruin your day of fun with Rosie," Steve said resting his head on the back of the couch.

"I want you to promise me you or someone around you will call me and let me know but really hope there's not a next time," Jade said running a thumb over his left eyebrow and then leaning in to place a small kiss on his lips.

Steve nodded. "Alright, now why is Rosie with Grace?"

Since Jade had met Rachel, they had kept in touch and gone out on a few play dates with the girls who had taken an instant liking to each other. Jade liked Rachel and she was glad to have a friend on the island even if Steve found it hard to believe after all the stories Danny had told him regarding Rachel.

"The girls wanted to have a sleep over so Rachel suggested they have it at her house. I took advantage of the free time to spend it with you," Jade said leaning into Steve to nuzzle his neck being careful not to hurt his injured arm. "What better way to spend it than with you."

"Hmm, I love the way you think," Steve whispered caressing her lower back with his uninjured arm.

"Really?" Jade whispered back seductively as she placed small kisses on his face. "You want to show me how much you love it?"

Steve pulled back and raised an eyebrow at Jade. "Is that an invitation?" he asked in a hoarse voice.

"Maybe," she replied coyly while she gently caressed his lips with her thumb not taking her eyes off them.

Steve groaned in response. "Jaaaade, you're killing me here."

Jade smiled before leaning in and fully kissing Steve. "Is that good enough for you?" she whispered breathless against his lips when she pulled slightly away.

Steve didn't respond. He just placed a hand on the back of her head and pulled her into another deep kiss letting his tongue explore her mouth.

Jade ached inside for the feel of him. She turned to sit more comfortably on his lap straddling him feeling the hard swelling pressing into her sensitive spot. Jade groaned and writhed as the ache within her continued growing and pulsing.

"Gosh Jade, you have no idea what you do to me," Steve whispered against her ear feeling her shudder in his arms.

Jade pulled away not wanting to prolong it any longer. She saw Steve's confusion written in his handsome face but she was quick to reassure him when she pulled him up and lead him towards the stair, her intentions becoming very clear to Steve.

* * *

The following morning, Steve stretched in bed feeling all his muscles sore but not complaining after such a amazing night he'd had with Jade. They had made love 'til very late into the night neither being able to satisfy the need that just seemed to grow bigger with each round of their lovemaking. He stretched out a hand to search for her body but frowned when his hand was met with pure sheets. Steve looked to Jade's side of the bed and found it empty. He sat up careful not to hurt his arm that was beginning to throb and somehow managed to get into a pair of gray sweatpants before going in search of the lady that stole his heart from the moment he laid eyes on her at the bar in California.

"Jade?" he called out as he made his way down the stairs. He heard something drop before Jade called to let him know where she was. "Jade where are you?" he asked when he walked into his father's old office and not seeing Jade but being certain he heard her voice come from in here. Steve saw movement behind the desk and when he walked closer he saw Jade on the floor. "Everything alright Jade?"

Jade knew this had to be some kind of mistake. Steve would never do something like this to her but the proof was there on her hands. The words kept staring right back at her.

"Jade, babe," Steve said crouching down right behind her.

Jade looked up at Steve with tears in her eyes but what shocked Steve the most was the coldness she saw in them. It scared the hell out of him because he had never seen Jade look at him this way, not even on their worse fights back in California.

"How could you?" she said in a low voice filled with so much hurt and anger. "How could you do this to me?"

"Do what?" he asked confused.

Jade shoved the papers into his chest before getting up and rushing towards the stairs.

Steve looked down at the papers Jade had just shoved at him and cursed. Steve pushed himself off the floor and hurried after Jade. "Jade, it's not what you think. I can explain," he said walking into his room as he saw Jade quickly change into her clothes. He walked to Jade and placed his hands on her shoulders to stop her. "Babe, listen to me, please."

Jade pushed his hands off her. "Don't touch me," she said her tone void of any emotion.

"It was a mistake, Jade, I swear," Steve said trying to explain the existence of the papers Jade had found.

"Another mistake, funny, you're full of mistakes Steve," Jade said full of sarcasm.

"I never went through with it Jade, when I saw you here and gave me the chance to try to build a family I called the lawyer right away," Steve explained letting Jade know he had never gone through with the custody lawsuit.

"So if I wouldn't have come to your house and accepted to start over you would've gone through with it, right?" Jade pointed out. She shook her head and let out a small laugh. "You're pathetic, Steve, you and your damn mistakes can all go straight to hell." Jade turned away and stormed out of the room.

"Jade!" Steve said running after her and catching up at the end of the stairs. "Please, understand, I did it in a moment of panic. I thought you were going to take Rosie away from me and I wanted to do whatever it took to stop you from doing that."

"The worse part about this is that you actually thought I would do such thing," Jade said turning to look at Steve. "I might have done and said things that made you believe otherwise but I would never, _never_ take Rosie away from you. I am not Rachel, Steve, I wouldn't do the same thing she tried doing to Danny. I thought you knew me better than that."

"I know that, Jade, and I'm sorry, I'm really sorry," Steve said full of anguish.

"I love you Steve, I have no doubt about that but sometimes sorry isn't enough, Steve," Jade said as she opened the door and walked out slamming it shut behind her.

* * *

**A/N: This story will not be as long as TCE and I can tell you it is close to its ending so please review and let me know what you think.  
**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I'm back! I admit I've been neglecting my stories a bit and I apologize. Love you guys and I will finish all my stories.  
**

**Chapter 6**

_"__If only just a moment just a moment… got to keep moving forward and don't look back. Remember that we never get it right all the time…" – Kaci Brown_

Jade felt numb as she walked aimlessly down the street and onto the main road not paying attention to the sudden rain that began pouring down ironically. Jade could not believe what Steve had done. She thought he knew her better than anyone else. Jade wasn't as cold-hearted as some people might think, quite the contrary. She loved her daughter and wanted the best for her even if it meant moving to Hawaii so she could be closer to her father. Jade had actually considered in the past two weeks moving to Hawaii so Rosie could grow up with her father right beside her but this morning changed things. Even if Steve did not go through with the lawsuit his intentions were there written loud and clear. That was something Jade couldn't begin to comprehend and she did not know if she ever would.

Somehow Jade ended up at the entrance of her apartment building and that was when she realized she was soaking wet. The guard at the door immediately opened the door for her and gave her a sympathetic smile as she walked by him as if sensing she wasn't having a good day. Jade walked into her apartment and straight to the shower trying to avoid getting sick. Jade slid down against the wall and wrapped her arms around her legs as she let the hot water pour down on her. She felt the hot tears burning her eyes as they flowed down freely blending in with the water coming down on her. It hurt too much to think Steve would think so little of her and if he did not go through with it why didn't he mention it before she let herself think they could really have something together. Now Rosie would be disappointed and she hated having to break the news to her. Right now, Jade really hated Steve for not only hurting her but for the pain they were going to cause their daughter Rosie.

* * *

Jade woke up startled and confused until she remembered where she was and what had woken her up. There was a knocking on her door. She checked her cell phone for the time and noticed she had over twenty missed calls all from Steve who had also sent several texts and voice mails. Jade ignored the missed calls and texts to go check out who was at her door hoping it was not Steve.

Jade looked through the peek hole and saw that it was Rachel's driver. Jade looked to her left at the mirror hanging on the wall adjacent to the door and sighed at her reflection. She had somehow fallen asleep with her hair wet and the bathrobe. Her eyes were bloodshot and her hair was a big mess. Jade quickly ran her fingers through her hair to try to comb it and pinched her cheeks to try and bring some color to them. She took a deep breath and opened the door with a big fake smile.

"Well hello there young lady," Jade said looking at her daughter standing with Rachel's driver holding her overnight bag. "I am so glad you're finally home."

"Hi mommy," Rosie said smiling. "I had so much fun but I missed you and daddy." Rosie ran into the apartment searching for her father but became disappointed when she didn't see him. "I thought daddy was going to be with you."

Jade gave Rosie a weak smile before turning to Rachel's driver. "Thank you for bringing her," she said as she took Rosie's bag.

"No problem ma'am," the driver said before leaving.

Jade closed the door and turned to face Rosie. "No, sweetie, _I_ was going to be with daddy and I was but he had to go work. We already explained to you how that worked. I promise you can call him later today but first how about we go out and eat something? The rain has stopped and we have to enjoy the sun while it's still out." Jade decided she would not say anything to her daughter just yet. She knew sooner or later Rosie would sense something was wrong but until then Jade would do anything she could to keep her daughter happy.

Rosie nodded and followed her mother to get ready before heading out to eat.

* * *

Steve felt like throwing his cell phone across the room when Jade would not pick up the phone for the millionth time. He had to make her see where he was coming from but first he needed to find a way to get her to hear him out. Steve opened the door ready to go look for Jade but was stopped by Danny who had his hand raised ready to knock.

"Whoa, where's the fire?" Danny said pushing past Steve to get inside the house.

"Look Danny, I can't do this now. I have to go," Steve said as he scratched his eyebrow hoping Danny would get the hint and leave so he could get on with his plan to search for Jade.

"What's the rush?" Danny asked making himself comfortable on the couch looking expectantly at Steve. "By the way, where's Jade?"

Steve sighed and slammed the door close. "That's what I am trying to figure out but you won't let me do that because you keep asking all these questions!" Steve said his voice rising with each word he uttered.

Danny wasn't fazed by Steve's attitude. "I thought you said she would be here last night when you left the restaurant. I figured she'd be here still since Grace mentioned Rosie was with her."

Steve sat on the armchair and leaned his head back looking at the ceiling. "Yeah she was but she left early this morning after she found the custody papers."

"She found the custody papers?" Danny asked surprised. "Wow, man, I take it by the look on your face she didn't take it well."

"What do you think, Danny?" Steve asked dryly as he turned his head to his left and looked at Danny. "Did you think she was going to be jumping with joy when she saw I had every intention of taking Rosie away?"

"Hey you weren't going to take her away. You were simply going to make sure Jade didn't take Rosie from the island or prohibit you from seeing her," Danny clarified.

"The thing, Danny, is that I knew I was doing the wrong thing because deep inside I _knew_ Jade would never take Rosie away from me. Jade loves Rosie and she would do anything to make her happy. I just didn't see it then because I was blinded by the rage and terrified she would do something like Rachel tried doing to you," Steve confessed as he leaned forward and brought his hands together resting his elbows on his knees and his chin on his hands. "That's what hurt Jade the most, the fact that I even thought she would do something like that."

Danny felt bad for his friend but he didn't blame him. He had every right to have acted the way he did. Steve was human even if he didn't always show it. He simply reacted to the situation that was handed at him. "Look Steve, I don't blame you for the way you handled things. Heck, I would have done the same thing if I ever thought Rachel would take Grace off the island. Jade has to see things from your perspective. You simply reacted because you _love_ your daughter. Yes, maybe you should have told her from the beginning what you were going to do but just give her time to cool off. If she really wants to form a family with you then she won't use the first chance she gets to get out of this. All she needs right now is to calm down and get a clear head. Once she does that then I'm sure she will see things from your side of it."

Steve thought maybe Danny had a point. Right now, Jade was furious with him and would not listen to him. They had been down that road several times before and he knew how stubborn she could be when she was in that frame of mind. He just hoped Jade would not give up so easily on what they had barely begun rebuilding.

* * *

It had been a month since Jade walked out of Steve's house and she had managed to avoid him very well except when he would pick up Rosie for a day out or to spend the day over at his house. Whenever he tried to broach the subject about them Jade would always find an excuse to avoid talking about it. They tried to keep up the charade in front of Rosie but Jade knew Rosie was very smart and Jade sensed she was catching on to things, especially when Jade refused to join them on any outings the had.

Truth was, Jade understood why Steve did what he did. All these weeks of trying to avoid talking to Steve helped her understand his reasons. Steve had been terrified of losing Rosie the day of the shooting at the football game when Jade expressed how she felt with Rosie being in possible danger around him. He must have thought she would do what ever she could to keep Rosie away from him. Jade knew how blind someone could get in a moment of panic and anger, she'd been there before. Even after knowing and understanding Steve's motives, it still didn't lessen the pain she felt when she saw the papers or how Steve would think for a second she would be so cruel. Knowing all this, Jade knew she had to make a decision and she had to make it quick because time was running out.

* * *

It was Thursday morning, Jade and Rosie were scheduled to return to Hawaii Sunday night and school was about to resume in three weeks. She had to make up her mind on whether or not she would forgive Steve and move on with their lives as a family or forget about him and return to her life in California.

Jade was about to go wake up Rosie for breakfast when someone began knocking incessantly on the door. Jade checked the time on her wrist watch and saw it was only seven forty in the morning. It couldn't be Steve; he said he would pick up Rosie around six in the evening for dinner. She went to the door and saw through the peek hole that it was Danny. She opened the door and Danny immediately walked through looking disheveled and very troubled.

"Danny, are you alright?" Jade asked worriedly as she closed the door. "I thought you and Rachel were leaving last night back to Jersey."

"There was a change of plans and I hope Rachel understands," Danny said as he paced Jade's living room.

"Okay, what's going on?" Jade asked not understanding what could be so important to have Danny miss his flight and an opportunity he had been wishing for a long time.

"I think you might want to sit down, Jade," Danny asked as he checked to make sure Rosie was not within earshot.

Jade saw what Danny was doing and she immediately became alert. "What's going on Daniel? You can say whatever you want, Rosie is still sleeping."

Danny sighed and stopped in front of Jade. He took a deep breath and gave her the news he was dreading to give from the beginning. "Steve was arrested last night for the murder of Laura Hills and Governor Jameson."

Jade shook her head and chuckled. She heard wrong, she knew she had, she must have heard wrong. Steve a murderer, never. Yes he was very temperamental and did things without thinking them through the majority of the time but never to the point of committing murder. No, there must be a mistake, a misunderstanding. "That's not true, Danny. You must have heard wrong. Steve would never kill anyone unless it was part of a case or a mission with the Navy."

Jade was in denial, Danny could see it. "Jade, I was there when Steve was being arrested," Danny said softly.

"No, no, no," Jade said shaking her head as she backed away to get as far from Danny as she could. "Steve is not a murderer!"

"I know that, we all know that. He says it was WoFat," Danny said.

Jade was not very familiar with WoFat but the small things she knew about him were because she had to literally drag it out of Steve every time she asked about his parents' murder because he simply refused to get her involved. He had always told her that was something he would solve and he didn't want her to know much for her and Rosie's own safety. From the small amount of information she had she wouldn't doubt Steve for a second. That man, WoFat had no limits and framing Steve for the death of the Governor of Hawaii proved just that.

Danny ran a hand through his hair. At this point he would end up losing all his hairs from doing the same thing every five minutes. He hated having to give Jade these types of news but he promised Steve to keep an eye on them and Steve's anxiety grew even more because he knew Jade and Rosie were due to leave this weekend.

"I'm sure you and the rest of Five-0 can do something about it right? With this full immunity Steve talked about you can get him out of there until you can prove he didn't do it," Jade said as she paced the living room trying to come up with a possible solution to the mess Steve was in.

"There is no more Five-0 Jade," Danny said taking a seat on the edge of the couch.

"What?" Jade asked as she came to a stop in front of Danny. "What are you talking about? You still have Chin and Kono."

Danny shook his head. "Kono was arrested too for money that we took a few months ago to use on a case we had and Chin, well Chin went back to HPD.

"Oh my god, this is all so messed up," Jade said in shock. "Why would Chin turn his back on Five-0?"

"I don't know but right now we have much more important things to take care of like getting Steve out of prison," Danny said standing up once again. "I called Joe, his Commanding Officer. He's on his way to the island."

Jade nodded. "Yeah I know him," Jade said remembering Joe. "He's Rosie's godfather." That had been Steve's idea. Joe had been like a second father to Steve and Jade had no problem with that.

* * *

The next day, Friday, Danny paid Steve a visit to fill him in on the latest information, which was mainly nothing but he took Joe with him to see what they could come up with. Steve, once again, told them exactly how things had played out until the point where Steve had been shocked with a taser. The governor and WoFat knew each other and Steve was certain WoFat had killed her with Steve's gun.

When they had settled on a course of action, Danny changed he subject. "Jade wants to see you," he said.

"No, no, absolutely not Danny, I don't want anyone to see me in here especially her," Steve said adamantly.

"She's on your side, Steve. She believes you're innocent," Danny reassured Steve.

Steve shook his head. "No, my answer is still _no_. I don't want her to see me in here like this. This is not a picture of me I want to her to remember."

Danny sighed and nodded reluctantly. "Alright, I'll see what I can come up with."

"Just tell her the truth," Steve said.

"You know, she sent Rosie to the mainland with her parents," Danny said trying to fill Steve in on the world outside prison.

Steve straightened in his chair. "What? Why?" he asked in confusion.

"She decided to stay here until it's proven that you're innocent and since school is about to start for Rosie she sent her ahead."

"What about her job?" Steve asked.

"Jade says the school can get someone to cover for her. You know Steve, there's no doubt that woman loves you. Not once did she doubt in your innocence," Danny said hoping to get a reaction out of Steve.

Steve remained silent only giving Danny a slight nod. There was no doubt in Steve's mind that Jade loved him. He loved her too and he just hoped when all this was over she would see it too and forgive him.

* * *

Steve stopped behind the chair and just stared at the person sitting on the other side of the glass. He looked over his shoulder as he pursed his lips in annoyance before pulling out the chair and dropping onto it as he took the phone and placed it on his ear. "I told Danny I didn't want you to come to this place."

"Yeah well since when do I listen to what others tell me to do?" Jade replied in equal annoyance as Steve. It was Monday and Danny had told her Steve didn't want her to see him in prison but she ignored Danny. Jade had to see Steve for herself and make sure he was alright considering the circumstances. Now sitting in front of him she could see through the façade he was trying to put. He looked so unlike the Steve McGarrett she knew, unshaven and with dark circles under his eyes.

If this were a different situation Steve would have laughed at the truth of that statement but it wasn't. "Go home Jade. This is not a place for you." Steve was more than glad to see Jade but he just wished it were under different circumstances.

"It's not for you either, Steve," she said as she placed a hand on the glass. "Why did you do it Steve?"

Steve scrunched his face in confusion. "I didn't kill the Governor nor did I kill Laura," he stated tonelessly.

Jade sighed. "That's not what I meant. I know you would never kill anyone out of spite or for revenge. That's not you no matter how much you hate the people who killed your parents."

"Then what _do_ you mean?" Steve said not understanding where Jade was going with this. Danny had said she believed in him but her words were confusing him.

"Why did you go to the Governor's house? Why couldn't you just let the law take care of it? You had the _proof._"

Steve looked away for a second and then turned to back to Jade. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me," she said softly clutching the phone closer to her ear.

"Look Jade, just go home okay? Go back to California and take care of Rosie. Once this is all over we'll talk," Steve placed the phone back on its cradle and stood up without giving Jade a second glance. It was hard for him to walk away seeing the pain in her eyes at seeing him like this but he had to do it to be able to survive what he was going through. It was driving him crazy not being able to do anything from the inside and he didn't want to have to worry about Jade at the same time even though he already was. When Danny and Joe proved his innocence and he was a free man he would go after Jade and make her see how much he loved her. Until then, Steve had to walk away.

"Steve, Steve, don't go," Jade said as she called after Steve knowing it was useless because he couldn't hear her. "Steve!" Jade dropped the phone on the small table and cursed everyone who was responsible for Steve being in this awful place. She would find a way to help Steve, she had to.

* * *

_Three Months Later …_

Things weren't any better or easier for Danny and Joe. They didn't have much to go on or enough to get Steve out of prison. Chin had gone back to HPD because according to him it was the only way to help Steve. Danny still had his doubts and Chin's promotion only increased them but he had decided to give Chin the benefit of the doubt. At this point, Chin was their only hope.

Danny and Joe were in Steve's house going through all the things Steve had been receiving from Laura Hills before she was killed while Jade was in the kitchen making them something to eat. She had brought her things to Steve's house to know what was going on since this was where they were working from after Head Quarters had been shut down. Jade had gone to visit Steve at least once a week since her last visit but he simply refused to see her and it deeply hurt Jade. She understood his reluctance but it didn't make it hurt any less.

School had resumed in California two and a half months ago and Jade still had not plans of returning to work. The school had called and emailed her on various occasions. They were getting antsy and had even threatened to terminate her employment. The last call had been yesterday and Jade had asked for another month but all she got was one week. If in one week Jade did not return her job would be given to the teacher taking her place at the moment.

Jade did not know how she was able to keep going with so many things going on at once. She had flown out to California to see Rosie on various occasions over the past three months but those red eye flights had began to take a toll on her body. Jade was exhausted and she just wanted everything to be over. She wanted for Steve to be home with her and Rosie and the little one that was on the way.

The last night Steve and Jade had been together they had been careless about protection and now she had the consequences of that night growing inside her. When Jade realized she was late on her menstrual cycle she didn't give it much thought. She blamed it on all the stress of her problems with Steve and then finding out he had been arrested. Her pregnancy had been confirmed a week after she visited Steve in prison when she had began feeling queasy for five straight days. Now she was four months pregnant and beginning to show but she had tried to hide it from everyone as much as she could. Jade did not want anyone fussing over her when they needed to be focusing on Steve and finding a way to free him. So far, Jade had been doing a very good job at hiding it from them.

* * *

Danny and Joe were going over a tape when Chin walked into the house looking both worried and full of dread. Danny noticed Chin's appearance and immediately dreaded whatever Chin was going to tell them. He already knew they weren't good news.

"Steve was stabbed by Hesse in prison," he blurted out not wasting any time.

They heard glass break and all turned to see Jade standing just outside the kitchen with a look of pure horror on her face. The plates she had been carrying towards the table were all around her in pieces.

"What did you just say?" she asked choking on a sob.

Chin pursed his lips and closed his eyes regretting his bluntness. He should have remembered Jade was somewhere around the house. "I'm sorry, Jade, I forgot you were here," he apologized.

"That doesn't matter. Please tell me Steve is okay," she begged as she clutched Chin's shirt tightly.

Chin exchanged a worried look with Danny and Joe.

"Just spit it out Chin. Is Steve okay?" Jade ordered giving Chin a slight shake. "Is he _okay_?"

"I don't know, Jade," he replied softly.

"What do you mean you don't know? You're the one with the connections," she said releasing him and taking a step back as she looked at him with confusion in her eyes.

"On my way over to give you all the news dispatch called to inform me that Steve escaped while he was being transported to the hospital," Chin said.

"Oh my god," Jade gasped as she brought a hand over her mouth. Steve was injured, possibly bleeding to death and he _escaped_? Jade began to feel faint and the rest must have noticed because the next thing she knew Danny was leading her onto a sofa.

"Hey, hey, you need to take it easy okay?" Danny said crouching down in front of her. "All this stress isn't good for you. We're going to find him, I promise."

"I'm fine Danny," Jade said as she tried to stand back up but being gently pushed back down by Danny.

"No you're not, Jade," Danny said. "All the stress the situation with Steve is putting you through is not helping you or the baby." Danny nodded at Jade's stunned face. "We know, Jade. You were doing a pretty good job at trying to hide it but we were all able to see the changes right away."

"Does Steve know?" Jade asked looking around the room.

They shook their head and Joe spoke up. "This is something he needs to hear from you, not us. We'll find him, Jade, and before you know it you'll be giving him the news yourself."

"But he's hurt. what if something happens to him or he bleeds to death? He'll never know!" Jade said in panic feeling the anxiety increase.

"Whoa, whoa, come on Jade. Try to take a deep breath. You need to relax. You need to take it easy for the baby at least," Danny said placing a hand on her shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze.

"I know, I know. Just, please, find him soon," Jade begged Danny as the tears flowed down her face.

Danny nodded knowing finding Steve, soon and alive, would be the only way Jade would calm down. What in the world was Steve thinking when he decided to escape injured? That man would be the death of everyone and once Danny had him in front of him he would make sure Steve got a piece of his mind.

* * *

**A/N: Please review! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Here is the latest and last chapter of this story. Hope the majority of you, if not all, are still reading.**

**Chapter 7**

Steve knew breaking out of prison while he was being transported to the hospital had been a wrong move but it had been his only option if he ever wanted to live to prove his innocence. Now he was sitting in Max's living room after Max cleaned his wound trying to come up with a plan to not involve anyone in his team. He was explaining to Max what had happened when there was a knock on the door and he immediately grabbed his gun demanding to know who Max had called. When Max opened the door and Danny and Chin walked in, Steve let out a sigh of relief.

"What the hell is the matter with you?! Breaking out of jail, taking out a cop? Have you lost your mind!" Danny exclaimed as he marched right into Max's living room and spotted Steve.

"Why are you yelling at me?" Steve asked calmly.

"I'm not yelling at you!" Danny yelled.

"Actually you were expressing yourself in a very loud manner," Max interrupted pointing out that Danny was in fact yelling.

Danny gave Max an annoyed look. "Zip it kermit okay," he said and then turned to look back at Steve. "You lost your mind?"

Steve placed his hands on his waist. "What choice did I have?"

Danny looked at Steve like he had lost his mind. "What choice _did you have,_" he asked incredulously.

Chin saw that the argument between Danny and Steve wasn't going to lead them anywhere so he decided to intervene. "Shh, shh, you alright?" he asked Steve.

"Thank you for asking Chin," Steve said giving Danny a pointed look. "Yeah I'm alright thanks to Max."

Chin looked at Max and thanked him. "Where's the HPD car?"he asked Steve.

"I ditched it about a block away behind a construction site," Steve said.

Chin nodded in acknowledgement and said. "I'll take it to the North Shore to distract HPD."

Steve gave him an ironic smile and said in a voice dripping with sarcasm, "You are HPD Chin. You remember?"

"Hey just because the badge says HPD it doesn't mean I'm not Five-0. You know that," Chin said ignoring the way Steve looked at him.

Steve knew Chin was right and right now he had to trust him. He was the team's eyes inside HPD and Steve needed him as much as he needed the rest of the team. "Alright you do what you have to do. I just want to find WoFat you understand?"

Chin nodded in understanding. "Kono is following one of his men right now. As soon as we get eyes on him we'll be there."

Steve nodded and then Joe called to meet him. Danny did not want Steve to go anywhere knowing it was too risky but Max offered his vehicle and soon Danny was driving Steve to meet Joe.

* * *

Jade cleaned the entire house from top to bottom and now she was baking to try to keep calm and wait for news on Steve but no one had called her yet. A few cops had come by to check that Steve wasn't here. She had been questioned left and right to see if she would let something slip but Jade didn't know anything and no one was telling her anything either.

Jade had picked up her cell phone and was about to call Danny for the millionth time when Kono walked through the door looking a bit nervous.

"Kono, thank God you're here. No one is answering their phones and this whole waiting is driving me crazy. Wheres Steve? Is he okay?"

"Slow down Jade," Kono said motioning with her hands to Jade. She lowered her voice to almost a whisper and said, "Steve is fine. Max helped clean him up."

Jade let out a breath of relief she didn't know she was holding in. "Okay that's good, that's really good," Jade said as she sat down on the the couch. She ran a hand through her hair when Kono's words registered in her brain. "What do you mean Max helped him?"

"Look, I'm not allowed to say much but you can rest assured that Steve is fine, Jade. The team and I along with Joe are trying to find the evidence that proves he's innocence," Kono said still in a whisper.

"Why are you whispering and what do you mean you can't say much?" Jade asked losing her patience. "Where is he Kono? Please tell me where he is."

Kono looked at Jade and knew she couldn't keep the information from Jade. The woman was pregnant and suffering from being separated from the father of her children and the man she loved. Kono sighed and said in a whisper, "I think you're being watched by HPD." When Kono saw the meaning of her words register in Jade she spoked in a normal tone. "Look Jade, why don't you go out and get some fresh air. Walk around the beach and hey you can stop by Kamekona's for some of his famous shave ice."

Jade stood up ready to argue with Kono when she saw the other woman wink and smile. It suddenly clicked what Kono really meant and Jade smiled back. "Thanks, yeah you're right. I need to get out of this house and get some fresh air or I'll drive myself crazy," Jade said finally.

Kono nodded. "Alright, I have to go now. Just be careful, please," Kono said before leaving.

* * *

Jade drove to Kamakona's shave ice and walked straight to the counter. "Hey Kamakona," Jade said smiling at his surprised face.

"Hello there, to what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked.

"Just visiting," Jade responded with a shrug. "Let me have a cherry shave ice please."

"One cherry shave ice coming right up," he said.

"Hey Kamakona, can I use the restroom?" she asked.

Kamakona ahook his head no. "Sorry, out of order," he said looking at her.

"Come on Kamakona, I know it's not," she said leaning into the counter and whispering. Then, she stepped back and rubbed her belly showing him the perfect excuse to use the restroom.

Kamakona's eyes widened in surprise. He hesitated for a second until finally he nodded and motioned with his head.

Jade thanked him and walked inside startling Steve and Joe. "Hey, it's just me," Jade said with her arms raised in front of her.

Steve couldn't believe Jade was standing in front of him. "Jade, what are you doing here? You shouldn't be here. It's too dangerous."

Jade's eyes were filled with tears at the sight of Steve. She ignored what he was saying and rushed into his arms. Unable to control her emotions any longer, Jade sobbed into Steve's chest clutching his t-shirt. "Thank God you're okay," she cried.

"Shh, I'm fine Jade. I promise. There's nothing to worry about," Steve cajoled as he ran a hand on her back trying to soothe her. He placed both hands on her head and gently pulled her away enough to be able to see her face. "I'm fine, no major damage."

"I was so scared when I heard you got stabbed and then they said you had broken out. Why would you do something so stupid?" Jade admonished slapping his chest to try to get her point across.

"I knew it wasn't a serious injury and it was the only chance I had, Jade," Steve said running his hands up and down Jade's shoulders until they landed on her waist. Steve noticed something was different. He scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "Jade?"

Jade was looking at Steve's face the entire time. "Yeah?" she said in a whisper.

Steve looked down at Jade's stomach as he moved his hands more towards the center. He looked quickly back into Jade's eyes before bringing his eyes back to her bump. Steve cleared his throat and asked, "What's going on? Are you-?"

Jade nodded before Steve could finish. "I tried to tell you but you wouldn't see me and this was something I wanted to say looking at you."

"Did everyone else know?" he asked stealing a glance in Joe's direction but Joe was looking anywhere but at them trying to give them some sort of privacy.

Jade shook her head. "No, well at least that's what I thought. I guess they're wiser than they look. Somehow they figured it out," Jade said scrunching her nose.

Steve smiled and hugged Jade. He couldn't believe he was going to be a father again. This was the best news he had received in a long time. He just hoped his team had found the evidence needed to prove his innocence. He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by the sirens of police. Steve quickly moved Jade behind him to protect her.

"Steve, oh my god, Steve what are we going to do?" Jade asked her voice full of panic.

Steve turned around and gently pushed Jade's bangs away from her face. He placed a small kiss om her forehead and whispered, "Everything is going to be alright."

Just then, Kamakona came in saying they were surrounded and that it was McGarrett's call. Whatever Steve wanted to do, he had his back.

They heard the voice of an officer calling him to turn himself in and Steve made his decision. He looked at everyone in the room and said, "I don't have a choice." He saw Jade shaking her head no and the tears flowing down. "Let's just hope the team can find the proof soon."

"No Steve, you can't turn yourself in. If you go back they're going to kill you!" Jade cried as she held on to Steve's arm to prevent him from going outside. "Please, Steve there's got to be another way."

Steve looked at Joe for assistance and he nodded. Joe walked to Jade and removed her from Steve.

Jade watched as Steve walked to the door and opened it. "Steve, please don't!" she begged but it was futile because Steve had already started walking out and soon they followed.

* * *

When Joe, Kamakona, and Jade made it outside Steve was on his knees with his hands in the air as a cop made his way to him to cuff him. Suddenly Jade was brusquely pulled away from Joe when the orders were given for their arrest too for harboring a fugitive.

"Hey! Don't touch her!" Steve yelled as he watched the way Jade was being pulled. "She's pregnant! Leave them alone, they had nothing to do with this. I forced them to help me!"

Before Steve could continue, Danny and Chin arrived ordering for Steve's release saying they had the proof that proved his innocence. The governor quickly followed behind and at his orders, Steve was set free.

Once Steve was set free he quickly rushed to Jade's side to make sure she was alright. "Are you alright? Did they hurt you?" he asked full of worry as he looked her over to make sure she wasn't hurt.

"Steve, Steve, stop, I'm fine," she said as she grabbed his hands to stop him. When he stopped and looked into her eyes she said, "Really, I'm fine."

Steve wasn't too convinced but he nodded for her benefit. "Jade, I-"

"Steve," Danny called from behind interrupting Steve.

Steve closed his eyes and pursed his lips in annoyance at the interruption.

"We need to go inside to check out the video," Danny said.

Steve nodded and opened his eyes to see Jade smiling at him.

"Go, I can wait," Jade said motioning for Steve to go with the rest. "I'll wait for you at home."

Steve nodded, Jade's words not registering in his brain.

Jade closed the gap between them and placed a small kiss on his lips. "I love you," she whispered before walking away towards Steve's truck and not giving Steve a chance to say anything.

Steve smiled as he watched her walk away but his thoughts were interrupted when Danny called him once again. He rolled his eyes and started walking towards the door when Jade's words clicked. He turned around and all he saw was the tail of his truck disappearing in the distance.

* * *

Once inside, the Governor along with the rest watched the video from the former Governor's office where it showed clearly when Steve was tasered and then another person shooting the governor but they could not prove it was WoFat because his face was not shown on the camera.

Governor Denning turned to Steve and said, "Commander McGarrett I offer my sincerest apologies."

Steve gave Governor Denning a hard look and said, "With all due respect sir I do not need you're apologies. What I do need is for you to reinstate my task force."

Governor Denning thought for a few seconds about Steve's request. "Well there's no doubt that Five-0 had an impact on crime so as lieutenant governor I'll grant your request," he conceded.

Steve nodded and said, "Alright thank you sir."

"_But_ there are conditions," Denning added.

Danny was intrigued by this statement so he asked, "What conditions?"

Governor Denning looked Steve in the eye as he spoke. "Governor Jameson gave you full immunity and means. That's not going to happen on my watch. You cross the line you answer to _me_," he said pointing a finger to himself.

Steve nodded. "Understood sir but just so we're clear, sometimes we're put in positions where lives are on the line and we have to make split second decisions and when that happens the line you're talking about is a bit hard to see."

Governor Denning offered a hand to Steve and said, "Fair enough. I'll reinstate Detective Williams and Lieutenant Kelly immediately."

Chin did not hear the governor say his cousin's name so he decided to remind Denning about Kono "Don't forget about Officer Kalakaua. She needs to be cleared of all the charges pending against her as well."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible. I'm told Officer Kalakaua is still being investigated by internal affairs. They'll need to complete that investigation to determine whether she's fit for duty," the Governor said before walking out.

The remaining members of Five-0 weren't too happy about the news regarding Kono but before they could dwell too much in it Kono called them to give them WoFat's whereabouts.

* * *

At the end of the day, WoFat got away once again making Steve mad but even more determined to hunt him down. He was glad the team had been reinstated but at the same time he felt guilty for Kono knowing he had been involved in the money issue as well. He promised her he would do what he could to help her out. Right now all Steve wanted to do was go home and see Jade and Rosie.

Danny dropped Steve off at his house but when Steve walked in the house was dark and quiet. He spotted a light coming from upstairs so he went to check it out. When Steve walked into his bedroom, he spotted Jade sleeping on his bed hugging his pillow to her body and clutching her cell phone with one hand. He walked to the bed and sat on the edge trying not to wake her up knowing she needed her sleep after all the stress he put her through in the last three months. Steve reached over to turn off the lamp when Jade began to stir until she opened her eyes and looked into his eyes.

"Hey I'm sorry I woke you up," he whispered as he moved her bangs away from her eyes.

"I'm glad you did. I was waiting for you but I guess I was too tired and I fell asleep," she said in a small voice as she sat up and leaned against the headboard. Jade played with her fingers and avoided looking into Steve's eyes. Now that everything was over and they were finally alone Jade did not know how to act or what to say. "I'm really glad the team proved your innocence."

"Me too," Steve whispered as he looked at Jade's hands. He placed a hand on top of Jade's and used the other to lift her chin up so she would look at him. "I'm sorry I pushed you away while I was in prison. I didn't want you to see me in there."

"I love you Steve and I was an idiot for not trusting in you. I now see where you were coming from when you were going to file for custody. I just wished you knew by now I would never take Rosie away from you," Jade confessed as shen placed a hand on top of Steve's.

"I was scared Jade. Now that I had you and Rosie here I was scared you would leave and take Rosie after what happened," Steve said looking intently into Jade's eyes.

"Shh," Jade whispered as she placed a finger against Steve's lips. "I understand, really, I do. I just want us to move past this and really build our family, that's if you'll take me back."

Steve smiled and leaned in to place a small kiss on Jade's lips. "Are you kidding?" he asked against her lips with a big smile on his lips. "I love you and I would be an idiot to let you go again."

Jade smiled and kissed him profoundly.

"But there's just a minor problem," Steve said as he pulled back. When he saw Jade frown he added, "TThere's one person missing. Where's Rosie?"

"In L.A. with my parents," Jade said. She noticed Steve was about to protest amd immediately added, "It's temporary. I didn't want her around while you were in prison and she had to go to school."

Steve stood up and sighed as he ran a hand over his face. "That's going to be another problem, Jade. Your job is in L.A. and so is Rosie's school. My job is here and I can't leave.I have to find the person responsible fof my parents murder and I can't ask you to give up something you love."

Jade got off the bed ajd followed Steve to where he was standing at the foot of the bed and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Rosie and I love you more Steve. We want to be here with you."

"What about your job?" he asked a bit apprehensive.

"I quit," she said simply as she smiled up at him.

"You- what? You quit?" he asked disbelief written on his face.

Jade shrugged as if it wasn't important. "They were going to replace me either way if I didn't return soon. Besides, we have another baby on the way, Steve. We can't raise a child, much less two, from two different states. My job is not a problem. I can find another job here after the baby is born. All we have to do right now is bring Rosie home."

Steve looked down at Jade's face and couldn't believe how lucky he was. His family was finally with him and that was all that mattered.

"We're going to make it this time Steve," Jade stated firmly. "We just have to _keep believing_."

_Fin_.

* * *

A/N: With this chapter I conclude this story. I promise I will finish THAW no matter what!


End file.
